About a Girl and a Boy
by smanfan
Summary: At age 15 Sookie is a regular country girl living in New England, and Eric is a city boy who was forced to relocate to the quiet countryside once his mother landed a new job. AH, Eric/Sookie.
1. Chapter 1

**About a Girl and a Boy**

**Summary:** At age 15 Sookie is a regular country girl living in New England, and Eric is a city boy who was forced to relocate to the quiet countryside once his mother landed a new job. AH, Eric/Sookie.

_a/n: This is a short start to a story about Sookie, a freshman in high school who lives in a small town (on a farm btw), getting out of her shell a bit when she meets Eric. He is from the city and extremely unhappy about moving to the sticks. We'll see if anything brightens his mood, and how these two handle the numerous hardships of being a teenager._

_Future Entry from Sookie's Diary_

_I can't pin down one exact moment where I fell in love with him. My friends have asked, and people in movies always seem to be able to pin love down to one moment. One epic event where it all began. I can't do that with him. But sometimes I think it's for the best. To me, it's all of the wonderful moments crushed together that make me love Eric Northman. _

PRESENT DAY – Sookie's POV

I just turned 15 years old last week. It's hard to say if I enjoy being a teenager. Sometimes I feel like I just don't fit in, like I should either be a kid again or somehow fast forward to being an adult. But maybe that is what all teens feel. I really don't know. "Sookie!" I could hear them yelling for me from the kitchen downstairs.

What I do know is that right now I needed to get my butt to school. I was running late which was very unusual for me. I tend to be on time or early for everything. It always annoys the heck out of me when people are constantly late. It just comes across as self-centered.

I rushed down the stairs to find a wild berry pop-tart sitting on the counter. Perfect! I grabbed the processed pastry and ran out the door, yelling by to my mother on the way. The school bus was just pulling up when I skidded to a stop at the end of the driveway. Out of breath, and trying to keep my backpack on one shoulder, I stepped onto the crowded school bus. My house was at the end of the morning route, so it meant I did not get to be picky about who I sat down next to.

Usually I got stuck in the front seat with some kid too weird for anyone else to sit with. You know, the kid who has picked his nose since kindergarten, or the weird girl who always chews on her hair and talks only about kittens and how cute they are. It wasn't a big deal since once I got off the bus I had a few close friends to get me through the days.

Today was different though. The bus was crowded with teenagers heading to the high school and as I searched for an empty seat I only spotted one. It was towards the middle of the bus and there was an unfamiliar blonde boy sitting there. He looked miserable and me nervous about sitting next to him. But as the bus started to move again I had no other choice. I rushed over and sat down, giving him an apologetic smile. I naturally assumed he did not want company by his expression.

As the bus rolled down the bumpy country roads my eyes kept darting over to him. He looked about my age but I had never seen him before. That was strange in a town like mine, where everybody knew everybody since pre-school. Growing up in a rural Massachusetts town had kept us all secluded from anyone else so far. The boy had to have just moved here. He shifted slightly and it was then I noticed his black t-shirt said 'Green Day' on it. That was one of my favorite bands and their American Idiot album had just been released.

I sat there thinking about if I should or should not say anything. Finally I worked up the courage, and insisted to myself that he was new and needed friends. I have zero confidence with guys as you can see. "Have you listened to Warning?" He finally glanced over at me and I could not help but stare at his arctic blue eyes.

"What?" His expression was rather sour still but honestly confused. So I nervously fidgeted with my backpack's zipper while trying to continue talking without blushing. "You know, the Green Day album. I noticed your shirt..." My voice faded off rather bashfully and decided staring at my sneakers was the better option.

"I have, it's pretty good. Different from their other stuff though." The blonde mystery boy finally answered me after a short pause. I forced my eyes up again and noticed he looked a little less grouchy. This gave me a tiny bit of confidence. "Oh yeah, but that's why I like it. It's Green Day, but with an extra twist." I felt like my voice sounded less shaky. Good. Then he smiled. It was a small smile, but it was still a smile. I couldn't help but think how cute his almost lop-sided grin was. That was unusual too... most of the time I just couldn't be bothered with boys. Maybe I was a late bloomer?

"At least you're a real fan. I can't stand all these idiots who think they're fans just because they like American idiot." He peered out the window for a few seconds and grimaced. "Are woods the only thing to see out here?" I had to hold back my laughter as I shrugged and nodded. "I guess so. There's a country store in town and a gas station... but that's about it." Now I could at least assume he was from a busier area. "I'm Sookie" I finally offered up, in hopes of learning the newcomer's name too. He still seemed disturbed by my answer from before but replied "I'm Eric, and I'm sure you can tell I just moved to this pile of sticks."

He seemed so unhappy to be here. I wondered why he moved, where he came from... but I didn't want to interrogate him either. The bus ride was coming to an unfortunate end and I found myself insanely curious about Eric. Usually I was too shy to let myself start a conversation, or ask questions. But with Eric my burning curiosity seemed to force me into asking him things, without my mind quite agreeing yet.

As we stepped off the bus and stood on the tarmac in front of the high school I noticed Eric was quite a bit taller than me. I was not short for my age, but he made me look like it. His body was skinny and rather lanky, which meant he probably was going to get even taller. Geesh. "Maybe I'll see you in class" I said and Eric just nodded back and started to head for the main and I thought we had a decent conversation going... maybe he just thought I was annoying him. With a frustrated sigh I headed off to my locker, cursing myself for even bothering to push past my shyness. Obviously it was not worth it.

_a/n: If I get reviews I will continue this story, and we will see how things go for these two!_


	2. Chapter 2

_a/n: Thank you so much for the reviews on the first chapter! Also, I'm glad some people liked that I set this in New England. I know it's a big change from Bon Temps but I figure it's fanfic right? So we can make the rules. =) _

Eric's POV

I headed off to the guidance counselor's office in a huff. I already knew where it was from coming in the day before so my mother could sign some paperwork. As I walked down the crowded hallways I knew I could have been more polite to Sookie. She was nice enough to make conversation with me but… oh well. I was grumpy as hell about being here so being nice was not on my priority list today.

"Mr. Northman, good to see you." Mrs. LeClerq said as she motioned for me to sit down in her office. For some reason I already hated her. I also noticed how fake her overload of jewelry looked. She probably wished she was rich and tried to dress the part anyway.

I sat down and said nothing. I just wanted to get this over with so I could move on with my day. "Okay so we just need to go over your classes and make sure you know where you're headed for the day. We can also assign a student to show you around if you like?" She asked and I finally spoke up. "No, I'm fine."

I could handle things on my own. I did not need the help of some stupid senior who thought they were doing me a favor. Sure I might be new, and a freshman, but I could handle myself. We continued on and she reviewed my classes to make sure I was in the right ones. I finally stood up to leave and Mrs. LeClerq gave me one last parting sentence. "Eric, if you ever need to talk about your father, you know my door is always open." I was sure my face was red with anger. She had no right to bring that up, she knew nothing about my life.

I just gave her a cold stare and rushed out the door. I did not want to talk about my Dad, I couldn't. Now because of that bitch counselor all of those thoughts and images were at the forefront of my mind. The angry conversations replaying, and the aching pain was right on the surface. I could feel that prickling sensation at the backs of my eyes, threatening me with tears. No. I was not going to cry, especially in the middle of the high school.

I rushed down the hall in hopes of pushing the memories away and just getting to my next class. Then SLAM! I smashed right into someone and sent books flying across the crowded hall. Luckily I still had my backpack on so my belongings were safe. I looked down some and realized it was the blonde girl from the bus, Sookie. I had also managed to knock her over. "Sorry…" I mumbled and prayed she did not notice my tear-filled eyes.

As I kneeled down to help gather her books, I wondered if I would have stuck around if I bumped into someone else. Probably not. But I sort of knew this girl already and I already was a jerk to her earlier. I kind of owed her. Plus she was not saying anything about how I looked like I might burst into tears. I was thankful for that.

"Here you go, I'm sorry I hit you like that. I was… in a rush." She just nodded and replied in a voice so quiet I barely heard her over the chatter of other kids in the hall. "Thanks Eric". With that she headed off to her class. I frowned slightly and realized I probably scared her off by being so withdrawn earlier.

With a sigh I headed to my locker finally and decided if she was in one of my classes I would make the effort to be nice. She had been nice on the bus, and not tried to comment on my stupid tears. When I finally got to my first class of the day it felt like so many hours had dragged on by. But in fact I had only missed homeroom with my trip to the guidance counselor. My first class was math and it went by slowly. I sat there in silence and no one tried to make conversation. Some kids stared at me but no one was daring enough to talk to the new kid.

One thing that stood out in math was Bill Compton. He was annoying as hell and a total teacher's pet. He answered every question asked and feverishly took notes whenever the guy wrote a damn thing on the board. Once class ended and I was gathering my things, of course Bill was the one to come over. I cringed internally and did not bother trying to paste on a happy face for him.

"Hi, I'm Bill, what's your name?" I frowned and started walking out of the class and he tagged along. "Eric" I replied shortly and turned down the hall. Lucky for me Bill was headed in the same direction. "Oh, nice to meet you Eric. I guess you just moved here? If you need somewhere to sit at lunch my table is always open." I muttered a thank you and tried to keep going to my next class. But Bill kept chattering away. "Where did you move here from?"

"Boston" I sighed and took another turn down a red hallway. Bill smiled and popped another question. "Cool the city! So why did you move out here?" Thank god at that moment Sookie turned into the same hallway. She spotted me right away and I noticed she avoided my eyes. I found I did not like it one bit. One good thing was Bill that was distracted. He had this goofy look on his face, and ran his fingers over his perfectly parted brown hair to make sure it was in place. Someone had a crush and damn was it obvious.

"Hey Sookie! How are you?" Bill asked in a somewhat high-pitched voice for a guy his age. I did not even get a chance to say hi as he started chattering away at her. She glanced my way a few times but smiled and politely talked to Bill. Was she friends with this kid? For real? I hoped she was not dating him since she could totally do better. Sookie seemed like she had a hint of tomboy to her but she was pretty and I knew other guys were probably interested in her besides Bill Compton.

"I have to go Bill, Mrs. R hates when I'm late for art class." Sookie said with a smile, and I found I liked that smile. This was also my chance to jump into the conversation and I took it. "Really? I think we're in the same class, maybe you could show me the way?" Ha! I wanted to laugh at Bill's frown as Sookie nodded and we started to head in the opposite direction from him. I knew it was petty but he was annoying and didn't deserve her attention. Once Bill was gone Sookie was back to her quiet self as she led us down the bright red hall.

I knew I was going to have to make conversation this time. "So, why did they paint this school like legos?" She actually smiled a little at that. "I don't know, supposedly the architect thought it would blend the colors of the two town's middle schools perfectly. But you're right it's ugly. This hall looks like a McDonald's, and the English hall looks like a Best Buy." I laughed as I realized how spot on she was. This hall totally matched the bright colors on the outside of a McDonald's fast food joint.

"I can't believe these two towns are small enough to have a regional high school. Even with two towns you guys have way less kids than my old school." I tried to keep conversation going and Sookie seemed to slowly be opening up. "Yeah, I mean I know of smaller schools. My class has about 300 kids in it, are you a freshman too?" I nodded and could see her trying to hide the smile appearing on her face.

We got to our drawing class and Sookie sat down at one of the large drawing tables. They sat about four people so I took the spot next to her. Our conversation had to end rather quickly as class began. I realized this was the one teacher I liked so far. She was laid-back and as long as you sort of did your drawing work she let you talk through class and get up whenever you wanted. It was a nice change of pace. I also discovered Sookie was an amazing artist. She sat there drawing the flowers the teacher had put on display like it was nothing. Meanwhile mine looked like a pile of scribbles.

"How do you do that?" I asked, leaning closer to peer at her paper. When she glanced up she jumped back slightly, a blush creeping up her cheeks once she noticed how close I was. I honestly had not meant to startle her. "I don't know… I've just always liked drawing, it's a good way to pass the time. I think how terrible I am at math makes up for it though." I smiled and realized I had another way of maybe getting to know her better. "I'm pretty good at math, maybe I could help you sometime. If you need it." She just smiled softly and nodded.

Once class ended we had to go our separate ways. I had history and Sookie had biology. I continuously wondered throughout the day why I was so interested in her. It wasn't like I had some insane crush on her. I had crushes on girls before and I knew this was different. I did not want to talk to her in hopes of getting a kiss. I was honestly just curious. She was different from the girls back in Boston. They all were trying too hard to be women, and act older than they were. They also tended to be so obsessed with drama it was ridiculous.

At first I had thought maybe all the small town girls would be like Sookie. But I was wrong. In one of my afternoon classes a girl named Nan Flanagan was bitching about other girls to her friend Pam. Meanwhile Pam seemed very into putting on some fresh lip gloss and making sure her denim skirt was completely smooth. Yeah, so not my type of people. Apparently Sookie was unique. She ended up being in my last class of the day, Health, and I stole the desk next to hers. Bill Compton was giving me the stink eye since he was in that class too. I'm damn sure I stole his usual seat. Oh well!

One of Sookie's friends, a girl named Tara, was in that class too. If Sookie had a hint of tomboy to her, Tara was 100% tomboy. She had on baggy basketball shorts with a white tank top. I supposed she could be classified as 'sporty' but I had no clue if she played sports. She sat right in front of Sookie and I found it made her a little more outgoing than before. She introduced me to Tara and throughout the class we talked when we had the chance. I even liked Tara. She seemed like a decent girl and was not annoying.

We made our way to the bus together. I was pretty sure I found my first friend in town. I hopped onto the bus and was happy Sookie chose to sit down next to me, since she had plenty of other options in the half empty vehicle.


	3. Chapter 3

_a/n: thanks so much for the incredible feedback on this story so far! You guys get a new chapter today since I probably won't be able to update tomorrow. Please keep reviewing! 3_

Chapter 3

**Sookie's POV**

It was Saturday morning and I headed out the front door, my sights set on the barn. My brown farmhouse was small with clapboard siding and a tiny porch . We only had two rocking chairs on it, since there was not room for much else. My Mom was sitting in one of them as I skipped down the steps onto the gravel drive. "Where are you off to?" I looked over my shoulder with a smile. "Where do you think?"

My Mom just smiled and went back to the magazine she was reading. I did the same thing every Saturday. I walked out to our barn, which sat across from the house, perpendicular to the road. Thankfully we were set back in the woods a bit, with some trees to block the road from our view. I like it that way. The feeling of being isolated never bothered me and I enjoyed the peaceful quiet that surrounded my home.

I slid open the large door to the barn and found my father working on one of the tractors. My family runs an agricultural farm, so making money meant often doing repairs over the weekend. I always helped out when it was necessary. But I just did not know enough about the tractor to be of much help. If anything I would just pester my father like my brother Jason was currently doing. "Hey Dad, I'm taking Jupiter out." He popped his head out from beneath the tractor. "Sook, why don't you take your brother? He needs something to keep busy." My Dad looked frustrated but he didn't want to yell at Jason for trying to help either.

"You want to come Jay? I'm heading down to the stream." Jason just scoffed and started to head out of the barn, already typing away on the new cell phone he had just bought. "Whatever… I tried." I muttered and my Dad mouthed a 'thank you' to me. At least I managed to get Jason to leave somehow, even if he was not joining me.

My brother was two years older than me, so he was a junior at school. He had recently gotten a job at a local pizza place and was using his newfound cash to pay for his cell phone. We were definitely very different for siblings. Jason was on the football team in fall, and he played baseball in the spring, basically he was really involved at school and popular. He had countless girlfriends since he was my age too. It always bothered me when he pestered me about not having a boyfriend yet. I was fifteen for god's sake, I did not think there was a rush.

I finally got to Jupiter's stall and grabbed the bag of brushes hanging on the hook outside it. "I guess we have different priorities, right buddy?" I talked to the dappled grey horse like he was a person most of the time. It was sort of tradition for the Stackhouses to have at least one horse on the property. Our farm had been started on this same land by my Great-Grandpa, except it was a horse breeding farm. Once my Grandpa took it over though he converted everything to agriculture. But he always kept horses around, maybe to honor his Dad in some small way after he died.

So now here we were, sticking to the agriculture but lucky for me there was one horse sticking around too. I loved animals and sometimes I wish that I had known my Great Grandpa, I think we would have had a lot in common. "Ready to head out ?" I finished tacking him up and made sure the saddle was in place correctly. Then I lead him out of the stall and to the small set of steps just outside the barn. I hopped onto Jupiter's back and waved to my Dad as we trotted off into one of the fields. I quickly directed him towards the right trail and eventually we were immersed in the woods.

"So Jupiter, I think I'm going crazy." The horse's ears twitched back as he heard my voice. "I am actually looking forward to Monday. Can you believe it?" I could not even say out loud why that was. It was too embarrassing and ridiculous even for the horse's ears. The fact that I just wanted to talk to Eric more seemed so silly to me. I always prided myself on not caring about boys. But I realized I was quickly developing my first serious crush. God… I hoped I did not become like Jason anytime soon!

Monday came around soon enough and when I hit my alarm in the morning, I regretted wanting it to come. I was tired and just wanted to roll over in bed again. Heading into the bathroom I turned on the shower and finally started to wake up some. Once I was dressed I was getting excited about the bus ride. Hopefully he would be there and in an open seat.

I rushed downstairs and filled a bowl of cereal for myself. Jason was sitting half asleep at the table and narrowed his eyes at me when I sat down. "What are you all cheerful about? It's Monday." I just shrugged my shoulders and filled my mouth with a huge scoop of Lucky Charms. For once I was glad Jason got a ride into school with one of his friends that had a license. Otherwise he would have been teasing me relentlessly about the blonde boy I had been sitting with all last week. Finally his popularity was paying off for me in some small way. For now he was clueless about my new friend Eric.

Jason went off with his friend Hoyt about ten minutes later and I walked up to wait for the bus. Now I had no idea why I was ever mad Jason wouldn't invite me to go in the car with them. The bus ride seemed like something to look forward too instead of cringe over. The old bus pulled up to my driveway and I hopped on. I'm damn sure my face fell the second I saw Eric was sitting with Alcide Herveaux. Eric was on the inside so obviously Alcide had sat down next to him.

I walked by and had to sit down next to some girl I barely new. Eric's eyes caught mine for a second but that was it. He quickly went back to laughing with Alcide about something. Oh well….. now the bus just sucked again.

Tara came over as I was grabbing books from my locker and she noticed the sour look on my face. "Damn girl, what's with you?" I shook my head and grabbed my math book and English book. "Nothing, just a crappy morning." I felt ridiculous telling her I was in a mood because Alcide stole my seat on the bus. I had no claim on Eric or who he sat with. It was stupid. Tara did not get a chance to question me anymore though. Nan Flanagan was walking over. God, I hated that girl. She was one of the popular girls who was obsessed with herself and for some reason so were all of the boys. Her and her friends Pam and Isabelle always dressed like they were going to a fashion show after school.

"Can you get out of the way?" Nan asked impatiently and looked at me like I was a bug she needed to squash. I could see Tara getting all pumped up so I quickly replied. "Sure Nan, just let me get the rest of my stuff." Nan's locker was right below mine, it sucked. "Whatever Tomboy just make it fast." I reached out and grabbed Tara before she could do anything. I did not want her to get in trouble over Nan teasing me. I loathed the nickname but I refused to let it show in my expression. "All set." I said and grabbed Tara, dragging her to the other side of the hall.

"That girl is such a bitch Sook, why do you let her push you around?" I knew Tara meant well but she had much more of a temper than me. "It's not worth it Tara. She's being immature and thinks she's better than us. Me yelling at her won't change any of that." For now Tara couldn't argue with my logic and left it alone. A few of our other friends showed up, and we fell into conversation with them. I ended up distracted when I heard Nan say Eric's name though. Maybe eavesdropping is bad but hey, I did not want to see Eric get involved with likes of Nan. She was so fake and he seemed like a really nice guy.

"You guys seen the new kid? He's pretty cute right? I think I'll ask him to the movies this weekend. My brother even said we could double date with him and his girlfriend." Nan chattered on with Pam and Isabelle. I felt my heart sink into my sneakers. If a girl like Nan was interested in Eric I would never have a chance. My stupid first real crush was falling to pieces before it even began! Nan was pretty and super girly, with plenty of boy experience. I tried to ignore the twisted feeling in my stomach and turned back to Amelia who was still yammering on about her annoying math teacher.

When I made it to drawing class Eric was already there and in his usual seat. I did not want to be weird around him, I had no reason to be. So I sat down next to him. "Hey, what's up?" He smiled and started getting his things set up on the table. I did my best to smile back. "Nothing, long morning I guess." More like, I have a ridiculous crush on you already but stupid Nan is ruining it…

"Um, sorry I couldn't save you a seat on the bus this morning. Alcide sat down before I realized it. I had my headphones on. And I didn't want to tell him to get up after he sat down." Eric even looked like he was disappointed we did not get to sit together. Or was I imagining it? "But we can make up for it this afternoon on the ride home."

I was probably grinning like a lunatic. So Eric really did care about talking to me… You would think I would have figured that out after he sat with me everyday last week and tried to steal Bill's seat in health class all the time. But I never thought much of myself when it came to boys showing interest in me. I also had figured it was because he was new and had no one else. "Yeah, that sounds good." I smiled back and grabbed the colored pencils we were supposed to be using today.

"Oh, I brought Kerplunk too, so we can listen to it on the bus." Eric said as he started scribbling something that did not look like the fruit bowl we were supposed to draw. "You remembered? Awesome, I can't believe it's the only Green Day album I haven't heard." Last week we had been talking about music and I told Eric I didn't have that album. On Friday afternoon he promised to bring it to school sometime since he always brought his CD player on the bus with him.

"It's good. I also want to get Bullet in a Bible when it comes out. There's going to be an entire live concert on DVD along with the live CD." I swear his eyes looked a shade or two brighter when he was talking about the band. I tried to look focused on my drawing as Mrs. R walked by. "I know.." I said in a hushed voice this time. "I've been waiting for that one. I can't go to their concerts on my own yet, and I so don't want to go with my parents. It would feel so lame. So watching it on TV is the next best thing for me." Eric had told me before he went to a concert once last summer. He got to go with his friends and his Dad just dropped them off. I was so jealous, my parents were over protective and definitely would not let me go to a concert with a bunch of kids my age. They would just worry all night.

"When it comes out, whoever gets it first, we can watch it together and stock up on popcorn and soda. We'll make it a rowdy stay-at-home concert." When Eric said that I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. The CD release was a month away though, so I had a long wait for this supposed hanging out. I desperately wanted to ask him to do something outside of school, but I was way too shy for that. It didn't even have to be anything date like. I probably was not ready for that. I just enjoyed talking to Eric and I wanted to see more of him. He was different from everyone else who had always lived in town.

I wanted to ask him about Boston but his expression always darkened when someone asked about him moving, so I never did. For now Eric's past was mostly a mystery to me. The only thing I noticed was that he mentioned his mother, but never his father. "Sounds like a plan, I'll bring the Mountain Dew." I got back to my work, since I had gotten nothing done on our new art project so far.


	4. Chapter 4

_a/n: thanks for all the awesome reviews, as we go along the chapters are a bit longer since there will be more plot based/drama happening now that Sookie and Eric have gotten to know each other. I'm a few chapters ahead with my writing, so updates should continue to be regular. Please keep reviewing! _

Chapter 4

**Eric's POV**

It was Wednesday afternoon, halfway through my second week at the new school when Nan Flanagan came waltzing up to me in the afternoon. For once her little sidekicks were not with her, which I found odd. I had just left Sookie in order to get a book from my locker, and promised to meet her on the bus. Sookie was quickly becoming my best friend and I always looked forward to the bus rides.

"Hey Eric, you need a ride home?" Nan casually tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. To everyone else it probably looked like the perfect display of how amazingly smooth her hair was. To me it looked like her purposely trying to show off. I couldn't help but think she looked like an idiot. "Nope, headed to the bus." I did not bother saying thank you. Nan was fake and rude, there was no reason to be polite to her.

Immediately she looked peeved that I had declined a ride in her brother's sacred Mustang. "Are you sure? Stan just put a new radio in the Mustang." I nodded and tried to brush past her. She reached out and grabbed my hand though, so I was forced to turn and face her. I noticed once I was standing Nan did not let go of my hand. Of course at that moment Sookie came down the hall, probably having forgotten something in her locker. She spotted us and I noticed how quickly she looked away and ran off to her own locker. Great.

I could not say yet that I had a thing for Sookie. But I did know I definitely did not want her thinking I would hang out with the likes of Nan. I knew she hated Nan and for good reason. "Come to the movies with me Friday, Stan can drive us." Her slithering voice made me want to slap her. Finally I yanked my hand back. "I like how you didn't even ask me." No she definitely just told me to go with her. "But no, I'm busy." I had no plans but whatever. I was so not wasting a Friday on her.

"Fine, have fun playing with Tomboy then. Just so you know that's all you will do. She acts like she is in middle school still." The disgust on Nan's face was apparent. I was furious. Sookie was a nice girl and a genuine person. Plus she was my friend, I didn't let anyone talk shit about my friends. "Shut up Nan, at least Sookie isn't fake as hell like you." With that I turned on my heel and left. I smirked as I walked away, knowing I left Nan in complete shock that someone stood up to her.

I found Sookie on the bus and sat down next to her. "Sorry I took so long." Sookie was not looking like herself. "It's okay, you were talking to Nan." She looked miserable as she said that, almost betrayed. I wasn't going to let her think I was friends with that bitch. "Yeah, she cornered me and then grabbed my hand with her vulture claws so I couldn't get away." Sookie actually grinned at that. "Her fake nails are like claws aren't they?" I nodded before continuing. "Yep, she tried to make me go to the movies with her. So I told her I was busy."

Sookie was quiet again but not in a bad way. I could tell she was relieved I was not hanging out with Nan and her snobby group of friends. I also realized this was a good opportunity I should take advantage of. "Say, just in case Nan asks I should probably be busy Friday… are you doing anything?" I asked and Sookie looked frozen for a few seconds. Uh-oh, maybe she did not want to hang out with me outside of school. For the first time since…forever… I found myself anxiously waiting for a girl's answer to something.

"Okay… what do you want to do?" I held in my sigh of relief and started pulling out my CD player. "I don't know, you said you have a horse? Maybe you could introduce me. That's part of the whole country living thing right?" I had been here for two weeks almost and barely seen any of the town. I missed the city but I had to admit I was curious about why Sookie seemed to light up when she talked about living in the middle of the woods. "Okay, you could even get off the bus at my house after school if you want. That way we would still have some daylight to be outside if we want."

Perfect. Sookie and I continued to hash out plans for Friday and I promised to get a note from my mother, so the bus driver would let me get off at her house. I got home and walked up the paved drive to my house. I did not live on a full fledged farm like Sookie did. My house was just a raised ranch set back from the road, with a decent sized yard, with plenty of trees surrounding us. I walked inside and tossed my backpack onto the floor. My Mom wasn't home from work yet so she couldn't yell at me to pick it up.

I ended up on the couch watching television and eating some chips when she got home. "Eric?" I heard her voice echo in from the entryway. "In the TV room!" I yelled back and grabbed another chip. "How was school?" She asked as she walked in and shrugged off her jacket. It was early October so the air was definitely cold. "Great" I said with a smile and turned back to the television. Only silence followed so I looked back at her. She looked shocked but quickly gathered her composure and sat down in the recliner across from me. "Really? Why the change of heart?" I had been notoriously miserable everyday I came home since the move. I always said school sucked. I just shrugged. "I dunno, just a decent day I guess." _No, you idiot, it's because you have plans with Sookie. _Okay that was the truth but I was not telling that to my mother.

Once I got onto the bus Thursday morning Sookie practically pulled me down into the seat next to her. "What are you doing?!" I did not even get a chance to take my backpack off. "You told off Nan?! Amelia called Tara last night, then Tara told me about it!" Sookie had a huge smile on her face, and I nodded with obvious pride. "Yeah, she was being a total bitch. She deserved it." I started to pull my bag off my shoulders and set it on the floor by my feet. "Well thanks" She said quietly.

"For what?" I wasn't sure why bitching out Nan meant she needed to thank me. "Amelia said she overheard Nan saying something about me, and you defended me. So thanks, you didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did." I did not think anyone should talk bad about her. No one had the right to say anything bad about Sookie, I'd never seen her be mean to anyone before. "You're my best friend. I don't let anyone talk crap about my friends." Whoops, I had not meant for her to hear she was my best friend. I was supposed to say friend. She seemed happy though, since she smiled and slowly looked out the window to try and hide it. It had to be obvious right? I did talk to Alcide a lot and sometimes Tara's boyfriend Eggs. But I spent most of my time with Sookie when I could.

That afternoon in health class Bill came over to Sookie's desk before the teacher got things going. I was sitting behind her today and Tara was to her left. "Hi Sookie, hey Tara" Bill smiled and nervously played with the watch on his wrist. "Can you guys come to my Halloween party this year?" He was only looking at Sookie when he asked. I just sat there leering at him. I didn't like that kid one bit. "Sure we'll be there!" Tara answered with enthusiasm before Sookie got to reply.

"A Halloween party? Sounds fun." I piped in, knowing Bill would want to look like he had perfect manners in front of Sookie. Basically I was manipulating the situation and forcing him to invite me. Oh well! He should not have brought it up in front of me. "Yes, it usually is. I have it every year." Bill replied and I just kept looking at him, like I was waiting for something. Sookie was looking at him expectantly as well now. That seemed to break him. "Do you want to come Eric?"

"Yeah sure, sounds fun." I said with a smirk and leaned back in my chair. Bill just nodded and returned to his seat, his mouth set in a firm line. Yep, he was so pissed at me right now. I didn't care though. He just wanted to try and get Sookie all to himself and make some kind of move on her. I wasn't having that. Why? I could not tell you. She was my best friend, but I could not say for sure I wanted to date her myself. One thing I did know for sure was that I definitely did not want anyone else dating her.

Finally it was Friday afternoon and I got off the bus with Sookie. We both turned around and spotted Isabelle in the backseat staring at us. She was probably going to text Nan right away. I smiled and waved, being a total jackass on purpose. Sookie grabbed my hand and pulled it down, blushing and quickly retreating from the physical contact. "What?" I grinned as we started walking down the long gravel drive to her house.

"You know what! You were just trying to get on Nan's nerves through Isabelle." Sookie lead the way down to her house. Meanwhile I was looking all around and taking in the sights. "So? You know she deserves it. I don't get why everyone in your school seems obsessed with her." I guess every school had them. The popular kids no one liked, but oddly half the kids seemed obsessed with trying to be like them. It was a strange world we lived in. The odd thing was back home those kids never paid attention to me. But here in this small town they seemed to focus on me and want me to join their little creepy popular group. The whole 'from the city' thing really seemed to appeal to them.

"She's rich and pretty?" Sookie shrugged and we headed up the steps to her porch. "I think she just looks plastic and fake. Like an ugly Barbie." I walked inside behind her, and heard her giggling. We got inside and put our bags down on a bench in her kitchen. Then Sookie headed to the fridge and grabbed two cans of soda. She sat down across from me at the kitchen table and her Mom came down the stairs seconds later.

"Eric this is my Mom, Mom this is Eric." Her Mom gave me a beaming smile. "It's so nice to meet you Eric. How are you liking everything so far, Sookie said you just moved here?" I hoped we did not have to talk about my moving too much. "Well it's different, but I don't mind it." In reality I hated it most of the time. Sookie was making it bearable though. "You kids want any snacks? There's cookies in the cupboard and some granola bars." I nodded and her mother even got us granola bars and brought them over. Could she be the nicest mother ever? I loved my Mom but lately she was too busy to be around much.

After that her Mom went off to clean or something. Sookie and I finished our food then got up to go outside while the sun was still out. With winter closing in on us, usually it was pitch black out by 5:30 or 6PM. "So you up for learning how to ride a horse today?" She asked with a smile and I could see the excitement in her eyes as we got closer to the barn. "Um, I think I might watch. Aren't they like.. huge?" I was just intimidated by her damn yard! There were fields surrounding her house that seemed to go on forever. I mean, I could see where they ended but to me it seemed like forever. I was used to sidewalks and skyscrapers.

Instead at Sookie's there was a vegetable garden, a pumpkin patch, then plenty of fields with other crops that they sold. "How come a lot of the fields are empty?" Sookie pushed open the barn door before replying. "Well winter is almost here so most of the stuff we grow is sold in the summer, and the fields are left empty for the winter. But luckily Halloween gives us a second wind. People always buy the pumpkins, squash, and gourds." She explained as if all of those words were normal vocabulary. I knew what pumpkins were and I ate squash once before, but it felt like she had been living in a different world from me.

We got into the barn and she immediately lead me over to Jupiter's stall. I noticed a few huge tractor's along the way and found myself quite interested in checking those out later. The dappled grey horse stuck his head out and immediately was nibbling on Sookie's blonde hair. "Woah, what if he bites you?" I nervously stepped back. That thing was big!

Sookie giggled and looked at me like I was crazy. "He wouldn't do that. This is his way of saying hello." Huh, I was sure if I walked up and nibbled on someone they might not take it as a 'hello'. "Come on" Sookie grabbed my arm and pulled me back over. "You can pet him you know, he won't attack. I'll go get his saddle and brushes."

By the time she returned with arms full of equipment I had managed to pet Jupiter's nose. It was surprisingly soft and he had these long whiskers too. I grabbed some of the stuff and helped her set it down outside his stall. "Your Mom is so cool, is your Dad just as nice?" I was hoping he would be since fathers were infamous for being mean to teenage boys that befriended their daughters. I did not wan to get the cold shoulder or some lecture about how to be Sookie's friend.

"Yeah they're both pretty awesome for parents. Sometimes they can be too strict for my liking, but they mean well." She explained as she started brushing the horse and picking out his feet. I couldn't believe she was touching his hooves, he could kick her with them! Sookie was so at ease here though. She seemed completely comfortable. At school it was obvious she had moments where she felt shy or uneasy . But here she just seemed completely happy.

She paused for a second and seemed to be thinking quite a bit before finally speaking up. "Eric, if you don't want to talk about it we don't have to but… you never mention your Dad. Is he around?" I debated for a few seconds. I could just say no and I knew she would drop it. Sookie did not seem like the type to go back on her word. However I also knew I could trust her. That day she didn't pester me about my almost crying at school proved that. She never said anything to anyone that I know of. Plus here she was letting me in on more and more of her life, and I barely told her anything about Boston or my family.

"Not anymore, he's still in Boston. My Mom moved us here to get away from him and start fresh." I said and stared down at my scuffed sneakers. I had not talked to anyone about this yet. It was still too fresh in my mind, the events too recent for me to really understand how I felt about them yet. "They just separated recently, and it's not looking like they will be getting back together." I looked up at Sookie and she looked devastated for me. "I'm so sorry Eric… that sucks." I actually grinned a little. It did suck, and it was nice to hear someone put it in such plain terms. It did not need to be put into a fancy and pitiful apology. It sucked, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Yeah, but whatever. So are you going to ride this horse or what?" I had to change the subject. If I thought about it too much I might get emotional. I preferred to run from my deeper emotions. Sookie accepted the change of subject and brought Jupiter out, all tacked up and ready to go.

A few hours later we were all sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner with her family. Jason kept making weird faces at Sookie from across the table. I had no idea what was going on, must be a sibling thing. I had no siblings so it was just strange to me. I also noticed Jason seemed like he would probably fit in with plastic Barbie people like Nan, he was nothing like his sister.

"This is really good Mrs. Stackhouse." I said as I stuffed my face with my second helping of mashed potatoes. Three nights each week I had to fend for myself when it came to food. Since the separation my Mom had to work two jobs and one of them was at night. "Boy, I don't know how you're fitting all of that into your skinny body." Mr. Stackhouse seemed amazed at my ability to consume large amounts of food. He was also nice to me just like Sookie promised.

Once dinner was over it was only 7PM and my Mom was not coming to get me until she got off work at 9. That left us with two hours to fill. The only television in the house was currently taken by Jason and I could tell Sookie was sick of being around him. Unfortunately I did not know him well enough to tell him off. Yet. "C'mon lets go outside." She of course led the way again since I had no idea where we were heading.

We ended up back in the barn. "Um, where are you going?" I asked as she started climbing a ladder. "To the loft, I have a table and some chairs up here" Okay, so country people liked to hang out in places you stored hay. Cool. I climbed the ladder and realized this must have been Sookie's hideout. There was a small table and a couple chairs. I also noticed her name, along with Tara's, carved into one of the wooden beams.

"Tara and I used call this our clubhouse. Lame I know, but it's nice and quiet up here. It also gets me away from Jason." I sat down on one of the hay bales that was probably meant for the horse. "Quiet? This entire town isn't quiet enough for you?" She sat down in an old wooden chair, resting her elbows on her knees. "Usually it is, but I guess I just like being by myself sometimes. I've never had a problem with it being too quiet. But I definitely hate it when a place feels crowded or chaotic." Sookie paused for a second. "Do you miss Boston a lot?"

"Yeah, it's weird sometimes. I miss the city because it was familiar and being out here it feels like I have to learn so many new things. Before I could just walk down the street to a store. Now I have to wait for my Mom and get in a car, then drive twenty minutes to the store." It felt good to actually explain some of this stuff and know the person listening cared. When people at school asked, or teachers did, I knew they did not really mean it. They were just making small talk. Sookie was listening intently though. "But once I get past that stuff I think I might not mind it here too much. I think I miss the idea of the city, more than the city itself…. If that makes any sense." I missed when my family was together in once piece. I missed when my mother seemed happy and I thought my father was a good man.

Sookie was about to say something but the sound of tires crunching on gravel brought our conversation to a halt. We heard Mrs. Stackhouse calling for us just as our feet hit the barn floor. I walked out to the driveway with Sookie and my mom was in her waitress uniform, talking to Mrs. Stackhouse. I hated that she had to get that dumb job. During the day she worked as an administrative assistant at some small company, she shouldn't have to go to work again the second she got home in the afternoon.

"Guess I'll see you Monday?" Sookie said and waved to my mother who was heading back to the car. "Definitely. I'll have the CD player ready for the bus ride." I smiled and jogged over to my Mom's car. Once we were on the road again it was quiet for a few minutes. Mom had the high beams on since there were no streetlights in our new town. "Sookie seems like a sweet girl." My mother finally started, with that typical gleam in her eye. You know the one adults get whenever a kid has a friend of the opposite sex. It was so annoying, it was like they thought they knew something you did not about your own friendship.

"I guess so. I wouldn't hang out with her if she was annoying." I just stared out the window but I could see my Mom's smile from the corner of my eye. "Well I'm glad you found a good friend Eric. You seem a little happier than you've been in awhile." I just said nothing in response. Sookie was great to be around but I couldn't tell my mother everything was just fine and dandy now. I was unhappy, even miserable at times. A few months ago my world had come crashing down around me, right now I was just trying to hold the pieces together.

"Eric listen… I know things have not been easy, but I'm trying to make things better for us. I really am. I don't want you to be unhappy." I sighed and started to feel the guilt eating away at me. "Mom you know I'm not mad at you. It's his fault all of this happened. I know you're doing your best." I had to keep staring out the window, seeing the lost expression on her face would make everything more difficult. "Speaking of him, your Dad called today. He wants you to visit him in the city next weekend."

I just said nothing. She knew how I felt about that. We sat in silence the rest of the ride home, my mother not speaking until she turned the car off. "Oh and you're going to the Stackhouses on Tuesdays for dinner. Once they found out I worked weeknights a lot they offered to have you over once a week." I probably should have done the teenager thing and yelled at her for assuming I would want to go. But I really was happy about that. At least I'd be around a regular family that was still whole one night a week.


	5. Chapter 5

_a/n: thanks again for all the reviews, they definitely help me write faster! I must say this story has turned into a little monster. I thought it was going to be a one shot or five chapters max. I just finished writing chapter 8... and the Eric in my head will not shut up! _

Chapter 5

Sookie's POV

When Eric left Friday night I definitely felt like I knew him a little better. I understood now why he sometimes got that distant, sad expression in his blue eyes when he thought no one was looking. There was definitely a chip on Eric's shoulder. I'm sure any of the teachers and maybe the other students would tell you that. It was like, just by looks alone, you would think he was a bit of a punk. When in reality, once you got past the surface, there was this sadness that was always hanging over him. I think Eric just preferred to appear angry or withdrawn, it was easier for him.

I also suspected there was much more to the story involving his parents. I never got the chance to ask since his Mom arrived just as I was about to. Later that night Tara called though and she wanted the scoop on me and Eric's date. I insisted that it was not a date. I might have an insane crush on him, but I was not delusional. Eric saw me as his friend. I filled her in though and she agreed with me that his eyes were pretty much perfect.

We also agreed that he had good taste in clothes. So many boys our age had no sense of style. I'm not saying you need to be . I just think you should pick some type of style and sort of go with it. Eric always wore dark Volcom, or Zoo York t-shirts, with grey or blue jeans and one of those black studded belts. Basically he looked like he walked into a PacSun and bought his entire wardrobe, which I loved since I did almost the same thing. Of course I usually only got to shop in the clearance sections or go when they had a sale. The place was ridiculous with their prices.

When I sat down on the bus Monday morning Eric looked miserable. "Are you okay?" I wondered if he would actually tell me. Maybe the opening up at my house was a one time thing. "My Dad called me…" Eric frowned and looked very conflicted. "Oh, what did he want?" I did not know the entire story yet. So I couldn't automatically have any opinion. His fingers were fiddling with his headphones, which were resting on his lap. "He wants me to go visit him this weekend in Boston. I'm not sure I want to go. I'm still pissed at him."

I debated for a few seconds. This was the right time to ask right? Or should I just brush past it and say 'do what you want'. That seemed so vague and useless though. So I worked up my courage and just asked. "What exactly are you mad at him for? I know you kind of mentioned it Friday…" Eric finally looked up at me then, his eyes rather cold and emotionless. "He cheated on my Mom. I feel like he's not even the same person anymore, I don't how I could go spend a weekend with someone I hate right now."

I cringed. That was terrible. How could his father betray his wife like that? It made me realize how lucky I was to have an in tact family, that seemed pretty happy too. "Wow… I wouldn't want to go either. You can say no right?" I had no clue if there was some weird custody situation already requiring him to go visit. Eric nodded but it seemed like he really could not decide. "No he can't make me go. But… I dunno. I have no idea what to do."

"Maybe even though you're mad, part of you still wants to see him? I mean he is your Dad and you saw him everyday for 15 years." Eric turned on his CD player. "I guess so." He said then offered me one of his ear buds so we could listen to whatever music he brought today. We finished the bus ride in comfortable silence, but I could tell Eric was doing a lot of thinking.

A few hours later I was sitting in English class. My mind was still on Eric and his Dad when something fell onto my desk. I looked over at Tara and she had this expression on her face saying 'READ THAT NOW'. So I carefully grabbed the note and quietly unfolded it from the triangle shape it was in. Mr. Kahn was busy writing notes on the board about Shakespeare so he paid me no mind. I smoothed out the paper and started reading.

_Sook,_

_I seriously need your advice! Like now! I think Eggs is gonna break up with me! Things have been weird lately. We used to be best friends not just boyfriend/girlfriend you know? Before us dating was just like this extra bonus and we could hold hands and kiss. But now it feels like he's losing interest in me. Maybe by now we should be doing more than kissing and that's the problem... I don't know what to do!_

_P.S. – you better write back while Krazy Kahn ain't looking!_

Boy first Eric's drama and now I had Tara's on my mind too. The world needed to put itself on pause for a bit, I'm not kidding. I started writing my reply when Mr. Kahn was busy. My thoughts might be ridiculous and maybe I really was just a late bloomer...but it was what I truly felt.

_OMG Tara! I'm so sorry. I know you and Eggs were really good friends before you started going out. That's terrible. But I definitely don't think you should have to do anything more than you're comfortable with in order to be with him. That shouldn't be what keeps him around, it should be how much he enjoys your personality. Not anything physical. Also if that's truly what is causing him to drift then he doesn't deserve you! He's a jerk!_

I folded the paper back up and passed it back to her quickly. I knew most of the kids in my grade would think I was immature. Maybe I was, but I just did not think that at 15 any of us should be doing too much more than kissing. It did not matter if the boys thought it was cool to do more, because they were just BOYS. They preferred to be called 'guys' now, but they were definitely still boys and not men. None of them even had facial hair except for Rasul, that kid had a beard in the 6th. Grade!

It always made me so angry that girls like Nan and Isabelle, who were probably not even virgins anymore, set the standard for the rest of us. Eggs had probably overheard from some boy about how far they got with Nan, and now he had it in his head things needed to move along with Tara too. It just was not fair. I got a thankful smile from Tara and once she read the letter and planned on giving her a call after school about this.

Dang, if by some miracle Eric liked me back someday... I hoped he would not be a big enough jerk to do something like that to me. I knew I wasn't ready to even think about actually having sex with anyone, it didn't matter how much I liked them. The thought was simply intimidating and maybe a bit scary to me at this point in my life.

Tuesday afternoon rolled around and Eric got off the bus with me. We were laughing about some stupid joke from the bus ride as we headed down the drive. I realized Eric was quickly becoming one of my best friends too. "So what are you going to be for Bill's party?" He asked as we got into my house and started rifling through the kitchen for snacks.

"I don't know. I guess I could be a cowgirl since I have the hat." I shrugged and tossed him a CapriSun. "Maybe I should be a cowboy to fit in with this country scene." I almost spit up my juice at that. "You as a cowboy? You're afraid of horses Eric!"

"Hey, Jupiter is huge. I think he's waiting for you to not be around in order to attack me." He seemed so sure of himself. "But I'm going to be... Bruce Wayne."

"No way that is so boring! Instead of being Batman you're going to be his normal identity and what, dress in a business suit?" I had a blast with Eric but sometimes the boy could be so mundane you would think he was fifty years old. "What? I don't want to be in some goofy get up and look stupid like Bill probably will."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you saying my cowgirl outfit is going to look goofy?"

"Nah, it'll look cute on you. If I did that though it would just look like I was trying too hard." His words immediately made my face turn red. I wondered if he even knew that he said that. He made no comment on my red cheeks though, thank god.

"What about Clark Kent then? You can still wear close to normal clothes and just have the Superman shirt under the regular shirt. Ooh and glasses!" I said with excitement. Eric would look like the cutest geek ever in some black glasses.

"Maybe" He leered at me from the kitchen table. I already I was going to enjoy having Eric over for dinner each week. Once we finished up eating we headed outside again. Instead of going to the barn today I brought Eric to one of the fields, this one was full of pumpkins. "Ready to carve some Jack O' Lanterns?"

"I've never done that before, guess I can give it a shot. My parents always bought those fake ones at the store with a light inside." Eric poked at one of the pumpkins like it was a foreign creature.

"You've got to be kidding! It's the best part of Halloween. You combine art, and getting messy." I was not the kind of girl who was afraid of getting dirty. Eric and I picked out our pumpkins and headed back to my house. It was pretty cold outside now that the sun was setting so we decided to carve in the kitchen. Eric picked a massive pumpkin and I had no clue how he managed to carry the thing. I grinned as I realized he probably had no idea that he needed to clean all the guts out of it. The bigger the pumpkin, the longer that would take.

We set everything up on the table and spread out newspapers and paper towels to keep the table clean. Just as we were sitting down Jason walked by, he was in a mood today and I had no idea why. He had his Pizza Palace shirt on, apparently he was going to work. "Still carving pumpkins Sook?" He rolled his eyes and went to the fridge.

"You know Jason just because you think you're too cool to enjoy anything, doesn't mean you have to ruin our fun." I hated when my brother tried to make me feel bad for still enjoying something we did as little kids. I was pretty sure pumpkin carving could be enjoyed by all ages. My Grandpa still carved them.

"Whatever, just seems like kid stuff to me." My brother really was a pest most of the time.

"I love kid stuff. It's the best kind of stuff." Eric said, looking directly at Jason and daring him to say something back. Eric definitely had a mischievous side to him sometimes. Usually it worked in my favor though. I smiled as Jason just left in a huff.

"Thanks, sorry he can be so annoying. He's in a weird mood today for some reason." I grabbed the small knife from the carving kit we had and began cutting the top of the pumpkin.

"I think it's because that girl Jessica chose Hoyt over him. That's what Alcide told me he heard, aren't they like, on the football team together or something?" Eric grinned a little. I think he enjoyed Jason getting snubbed as much as me.

"Yeah, Alcide is on the JV team and Jason is on varsity this year. I'm not surprised though. Jess is too nice of a girl to date my brother. At least Hoyt is nice." I reasoned, because he was the only nice one out of all of my brother's friends. We continued working on the pumpkins and Eric was still digging the slimy guts out of his.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Eric's voice was quiet and he definitely did not sound like himself. I looked up from my pumpkin and noticed he wasn't meeting my eyes. Strange. "Sure..." Now my voice sounded unsure because he was acting weird.

"If I go see my Dad this weekend, would you come with me?" Eric was looking at me with expectant and nervous blue eyes. This was huge and I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest. He must think a lot of me for some reason, and I had no idea why, for him to ask me that. I knew his Dad was a real personal issue for him and he hated talking about it.

"Okay, I just have to ask my parents." I couldn't say no to him, especially when he was really putting himself out there by asking.

"Cool" Was his only reply then he proceeded to throw a fistful of pumpkin guts at me.


	6. Chapter 6

_a/n: I love you all for reviewing and adding this to your alerts! I love hearing everyone's thoughts! Also I'm debating on starting a wordpress site to store my stories. Since I decided to delve into the SVM universe and actually write instead of just read, I realized I really enjoy it. But... I also have heard sometimes FF isn't the most reliable. So, idk, still thinking about the wordpress idea. Anyways here is the next chapter_!

Chapter 6

**ERIC's POV**

I needed to break the awkward tension after I popped that question. So throwing pumpkin guts at her seemed perfect. I had not thought about how she might fight back though. In seconds we were in a full out pumpkin guts war. I was laughing so much my stomach hurt. It was the first time I'd laughed like this in awhile.

Sookie was hiding behind a chair waiting to attack me with more orange goop. But I was being stealthy and just crawled right under the table to get to her side, then proceeded to smear the handful of guts I had in my hand down her arm.

"Eric quit being a goofus! I'm going to kill you!" I collapsed on the floor laughing. Then she shoved her hand onto my face and the stringy pumpkin crap got in my mouth! That shut me up. I made a face and could feel it hanging from my chin.

"Nice beard." Sookie and I both started cracking up again. We probably looked like lunatics laying under her kitchen table. Once we were both breathing again I sat up. "What the heck is a goofus?"

Sookie started giggling and wiped some goop out of her hair. "You know in the Sandlot, when the main character is trying to get the baseball from the beast in the beginning? He whispers to himself 'don't be a goofus!'" I actually loved that movie. It was one of my all time favorites.

"Okay Smalls, can we call it a truce then?" We even shook on it then crawled out from under the table just as Mrs. Stackhouse walked in.

She looked a little pissed about the mess in her kitchen. There was pumpkin goo strewn about all over the floor, table, and chairs. "I hope you kids know you're cleaning this up before dinner."

"We will Mom, sorry, got a bit carried away I guess." Sookie stuck her tongue out at me. That was so not following the truce! I made a face back and her mother just walked away, looking like she was trying to not smile.

Sookie and I set about cleaning up ourselves and the mess before returning to the carving the pumpkins.

After we finished carving our pumpkins we set them at the base of the porch steps, and Sookie put candles in each one. Mine looked like a joke compared to Sookie's. The uneven triangle eyes and disfigured mouth glowed back at me. Meanwhile the perfect laughing expression on hers looked like it was bought at a store. "You're definitely the winner at this."

"Nah, I like yours. He's cute." Sookie said with a smile, the yellow glow from the pumpkins lighting up her features. "Lets name him Alfred."

"You're naming the pumpkin? He is an inanimate object." Now she had me referring to the pumpkin as a 'he'.

"Of course, everything deserves a name." Sookie said with a firm nod.

"Okay then I'm naming your sketchbook Nan." That earned me a good shove and I almost landed in the bushes in front of her house. "Hey! Wait up!" I jogged up the steps to catch up with Sookie who was already in the house. That girl might lock me out just for the fun of it.

After dinner we sat down to watch the Sandlot. I found dinner to be much more peaceful without Jason around to stir up trouble. I've always heard people say siblings blame each other, when in reality both of them start fights with each other. But in this situation it seemed pretty damn one-sided. Sookie only snapped at Jason when he provoked her. So far he seemed to always be the one starting crap.

"Ah this is my favorite part!" I exclaimed as Smalls got to the tree house and Squints started telling the story of how 'the beast' came to be. Then he said that stretched out 'forever' a million times and we both started laughing. I glanced over at Sookie for a few seconds but she didn't notice. Her brown eyes were on the television. I really liked this. I was starting to realize I had more fun with Sookie than my friends back home in Boston.

They all used to be great friends don't get me wrong. But once we got to be 13 or 14 they all started becoming punks. They would walk around the streets trying to be cool by spray painting things and shoplifting cigarettes. I didn't like it. For a brief time, right after I found out about my parent's situation, I thought I liked that stuff. I was angry, and still am, but I quickly realized acting like a jerk and smoking cigarettes was not helping me. That was why I wanted to bring Sookie to Boston instead of hooking up with my old friends. She wouldn't push me to do something stupid, she would just be there for me.

We finished up the movie just as my mother arrived. During the movie Sookie's Dad had also let us know she could come to Boston for the day on Saturday. I was actually kind of excited to show her around. Hopefully my father wouldn't be too much of a pain and just leave us alone.

"Night Smalls!" I yelled as I ran out to my Mom's car.

"Later Goofus!" Sookie yelled out the window to me. I got into the car and didn't realize I had a ridiculous grin on my face.

**Saturday Morning**

For the first time Sookie got dropped off at my house. She had her blue backpack for school on but when she opened it, I discovered it had a ton of snacks stuffed into it. I'm sure she had money and other essentials in there somewhere. But damn, there were Rice Krispie treats, chips, and some candy. Awesome. I did not get to show her around much since my Dad appeared in the driveway with his car a few minutes later.

I already felt my good mood slipping away as he stepped out of the car. Then my face completely fell as the passenger door opened and Selah walked over, his new girlfriend.

"Eric?" Sookie said in a hushed voice laced with concern. "You okay?" I had to pry my eyes off of Selah's arrogant expression, and then off my Mom's hurt one.

"I thought it was going to be just us, I can't believe he brought her." There was venom in my voice. I hated her. I really, really hated her. I gave my mother a hug good-bye and she seemed reluctant to let me go. It was just for the day I reminded myself. Sookie would be with me and hopefully it would not be all bad.

We all piled back into my father's car and started the awkward 40 minute drive to the city. "So Eric, how is school?" My father had never been good at small talk and he was even worse now. "Fine."

"Sookie I trust you're keeping an eye out for our boy?" Selah just said that. What the hell? Sookie seemed torn about what to do. I could tell Selah was making her uncomfortable or maybe it was my obviously pissed off expression. I don't know.

"I guess..." Were her only quiet words and she offered me a sympathetic smile. This was so freaking weird. I regretted asking Sookie and putting her in this situation. My Dad was an idiot and so was Selah. She didn't even like me but she was trying to make it sound like she cared. Bitch.

"What's the country like? You missing the city?" I wanted my father to just shut up for the car ride. "Not really. " I did miss it but I was too mad at him to let him have the satisfaction of knowing I missed anything. After a few more of my one word replies he seemed to give up. I noticed Sookie pulling out her CD player and we both listened to our music for the rest of the ride.

Eventually you stopped seeing woods as you looked out the window. The landscape shifted from quiet countryside to taller buildings and even some skyscrapers as we drove through a business area in the city. We got to where my Dad was living now. It was a nice apartment. I hated admitting that.

"You kids can put your things down in Eric's room." My Dad lead us to one of the three bedrooms. This one was painted a deep shade of blue with a carpeted floor. There was a twin bed and a small desk. I hoped to not be spending too much time here. "We have everything set up for you son, so you can come visit every weekend if you want. I'm sure you miss your friends and everything." My father said with a confident smile.

"You don't even know me anymore. So don't assume I'll want to come here." I spat at him bitterly. I barely noticed Selah usher Sookie out of the room. Now it was just us and I really wanted to scream at him for everything he had done wrong.

My Dad ran his fingers through his hair. I was making him stressed out. Good. "Eric you can't hate me forever." He sighed.

"I can try." I narrowed my eyes at him, not giving an inch. That seemed to make him angry, he stiffened and stepped closer. "I'll make you come here every god damn weekend until you get it through your head, I'm your father, and you're going to respect me!" His face was red and I could swear steam was pouring out of his ears. We used to get along good but now my Dad just used his anger to deal with me, anger he caused for all of us.

"I can never respect you after what I saw." I gave him a cold stare. I was not intimidated by him. Then I walked out of the room. Those words must have floored him. I had not spoken about what I saw since that day so many months ago.

I had grabbed Sookie's backpack on the way out and had it over one shoulder. Her and Selah were sitting in the living room silently staring at the television. I walked over, grabbed Sookie's hand and pulled her along with me towards the door. "We're going home. Tell my Dad I left and took the train back." I did not even glance at Selah as Sookie and I walked out of the apartment.

Was I insane? Probably. We were 15 and now on our own in the city. I doubted my father would come looking for us. He was selfish and would be busy thinking about what I said and seeking Selah's comfort. Lucky for us I had also spotted a couple bills laying on the counter next to some car keys. I grabbed it on the way out. We would need train tickets and Pops could pay.

"Eric what's going on?" Sookie was rushing to keep up with my long strides. I realized then that I still had her hand in a vice like grip. "Sorry" I released her hand and slowed down some. We were actually on a street I was familiar with so I continued to slowly lead the way.

"My Dad's such a jerk, I just can't be around him. Sorry I made you come and deal with all this crap." I should have let her stay home and enjoy her Saturday horseback riding. "it's okay Eric, I wanted to come." She actually looked like she meant it too. I wanted to cry and hug her, but instead I did neither and pointed out a pizza shop I had been to before.

We got into the pizza shop and I ordered two cokes and a small cheese pizza for us. Sookie and I waited for our food then sat down at a table by the window. From here we could look out and see the people milling about the streets and going into the shops. I could see Sookie was excited to be here, despite all the drama. She probably never got to go places on her own since in our town you needed a car to go anywhere.

"So... you wanna talk about it?" She set down her pizza and just watched me for a bit. Did I want to tell her? I had not even informed my mother of all the details I knew surrounding the break up.

"Well..." Maybe it would be good to talk about it. I had to stare at the table why I did it though. "You know how I told you my parents are getting a divorce, and obviously my Dad has a girlfriend... " Sookie nodded and patiently waited for me to continue. "I kind of knew he had a girlfriend before my Mom did." My stomach felt all twisted and I had lost my appetite.

"How?" She asked quietly. "I came home from school early one day, it was a half day. My Dad must've not known. Because when I walked in the house him and Selah were naked on the couch..." I said with a grimace and I knew I did not need to explain what they were doing. By the grossed out and mortified look on her face she knew.

"Eww" She slid her pizza away from herself. Sookie always had a way of putting things into simple words it seemed. "Yeah, so it's not like they're getting a divorce and can just tell me they were unhappy. I know exactly why it happened and what a scumbag my Dad is." I finally took a sip of my soda.

"Do you think you will ever forgive him?"

"No, not right now at least." I wasn't very good at forgiving people anyway. What I saw had really screwed me up, more than I was willing to admit. It put me in a funk for awhile and that had not faded until I befriended Sookie. It was still there in the background but now I at least had days where I didn't think about what I saw at all. Usually those were days I spent at Sookie's house.

"I don't blame you. That's so mean, how could he do that to your mom? She seems so nice." I nodded in response. "My thoughts exactly. My Mom's a good person. She didn't deserve that."

"You know I'm always around if you need someone to talk to about this stuff right? I dunno if I'll have any advice, but I can listen." By her expression I knew she did not realize how much value her offer held. "Thanks Sook, you're the only one I talk to about this stuff."


	7. Chapter 7

a/n: Thanks so much to those continuing to review each chapter and sharing your thoughts! Here we see what happens with their trip to Boston and Chapter 8 is Bill's Halloween party!

CHAPTER 7

**Sookie's POV**

Eric and I finished eating lunch at the pizza place and brought our sodas with us as we walked down the crowded street together. My mind was reeling with the new information about his family. It was crazy how quickly Eric's personality changed once his Dad was around. I could swear they were two different people. He went from the funny and mischievous Eric I knew, to this quiet and extremely grumpy teenager. I was happy he felt he could talk to me, but I felt terrible about what he had seen. I couldn't imagine how to deal with something like that.

Towards the end of lunch Eric slowly warmed up again now that his Dad and Selah were not around. I was definitely a bit worried about getting home okay, but Eric insisted he knew his way around. This was his home I supposed, so I trusted him. Once we were on the street I could not help the jolt of excitement in me. This was so cool. We were in the city, walking around all on our own. I hated to sound like too much of a kid... but it felt like we were grown ups.

Whenever we had to cross the busy street Eric would reach out and grab my hand until we got to the other side. My heart fluttered every time.

"Wanna go in the stores?" He asked with a smile as we walked down the sidewalk together. It seemed like we were in a good area of the city, it was even a hint on the touristy side. Small shops and restaurants lined each side of the road and there were a few vendors with carts as well.

"Can we? Or should we go home?" I was still a tad worried about finding our way. "Take it easy Smalls, I know my way around. I'll get us home safely." I couldn't help but smile back at him. I swear it was contagious.

"Oh lets go in here!" There was a super cool looking record store that had the door open so you could hear the music. "This place is awesome, I used to come here all the time." Eric lead the way and I eagerly followed him.

I had never been to a store like this before. I usually bought my CDs at Wal-Mart or the closest mall. This place had this retro, indie feel to it. "This place is so cool! Look at all of the CDs and records!" I wanted to buy all of them. However I did not have that much money. Eric knew about how much the train tickets would be since he rode it before, plus we would need some money to use a payphone as well.

"Check out the poster section, there's a bunch of Green Day stuff." I walked over as Eric flipped through the numerous posters. They had countless bands and musicians and about five Green Day posters I had never seen before. "Eric this is awesome! I'm definitely getting one of these."

Eric helped me pick out what we thought was the best poster. It was only $6.00 and I was paying at the register when two boys came walking in. They spotted Eric and immediately came over. I got nervous of course, being shy made you nervous the second new people came over. But they must have been Eric's friends so I tried to smile at them.

One of the boys was rather short, probably only my height with bleach blonde hair and pierced ears. His baggy jeans and silver chain would make him one of those 'rapper' boys my father loathed. The other one had darker skin and hair that wasn't quite long enough to be considered an afro.

"Eric where the hell you been man? We haven't seen you in fuckin' ages." The bleach blonde said and reached out for some kind of weird handshake thing. Eric shrugged and lazily participated in the stupid handshake before shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You know I moved away Andre. I'm just visiting today. Oh this is Sookie, Sookie this is Andre and Jamal, we used to go to school together." Jamal nodded his head at me. "Sup" Was his only response. Meanwhile Andre stared at me until I was uncomfortable before saying anything.

"You two should come hang with us, we're heading to the old train tracks." I was intimidated by them and I definitely did not want to go. I glanced up at Eric, praying he would say no. Both of these boys freaked me out. Andre the most. They seemed like trouble, was this what Eric was like when he lived here?

"No thanks guys, we gotta be getting back home." I visibly sighed with relief.

Andre seemed to think it was up for discussion. "C'mon Eric, you're not going to hang with your friends the one day you're here?" Then he leered at me like I was the one to blame for Eric not going with them. "Does Goldilocks have a curfew or something?"

I was too nervous to say anything or think of a good come back.

"No I'm just not interested in sitting on stupid train tracks while you guys smoke." Eric said and once again grabbed my hand as he started to push past them. That seemed to be becoming a habit of his. It was a habit I liked, especially now because it made me feel a bit safer as we brushed by them. For some reason Eric made me feel safe even in a bad situation.

"Whatever dude, ditch us for your girlfriend. I see how it is!" Andre yelled after us. We kept walking down the street though and Eric never looked back.

We made it to the train station and sat on a bench to wait for our train to arrive. "Sorry about your friends..."

"What are you talking about Sookie?"

I fiddled with my backpack again. "I just don't know if you really wanted to go with them, but didn't for my sake. I didn't mean to hold you back." Now that I saw what a big and different world Eric came from, it definitely felt like I might be doing just that.

"Are you crazy? Those guys are idiots. We were friends when we were little but the last year or so I started drifting away from them. They do dumb things to try and be cool." Eric said and shook his head in disgust. God, could he be anymore perfect? I wanted to reach over and grab his hand like he had done without thinking throughout the day... but I just couldn't get myself to do it.

If didn't have a crush on Eric before I definitely did now. He had all of that drama going on with his Dad today and not once did he forget about me. He made sure I felt comfortable in the city and looked out for me. To top it all off, just like me, he was okay with being exactly what he was... a kid.

We had used a payphone to call our parents and tell them we were coming home. Eric's mother yelled at him over the phone, saying his Dad had been looking for us all day. I guess that made him a slightly better parent. But he still sucked in my book. I could tell my parents were mad too when they discovered we had been on our own all day. I would be in trouble when I got home, but I was not worried about it. I enjoyed my adventure with Eric once we ditched his father and Selah.

**Two days later…**

It was Monday afternoon. "My parents are so mad, I'm not allowed to ride Jupiter all this week. And I'm grounded for the weekend for not calling them right away."

"Damn, sorry Sook. I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Eric frowned as we sat on the bus together heading home from school.

"That means I'll miss the CD release and I won't be able to hang out Friday night either." I grumbled in misery. This Friday the new Green Day CD was being released. The one with live concert footage Eric and I had been waiting for.

"Crap that's right. " Eric looked almost as miserable as I felt.

"Well hopefully you'll still get the CD Friday, even if it's without me." I said with a sigh and stood get off the bus once we got to my house.

**Friday Night**

It was Friday night and I was home alone miserable. Tara and Amelia had gone to the movies together and invited me, but I told them I couldn't go. Eric told me he was getting the CD after school and I had not heard from him either. Neither of us had cell phones to text so I figured he wasn't home.

On Tuesday we had figured out our costumes for the party at Bill's next weekend. I was going as a cowgirl and Eric was definitely Clark Kent. I couldn't wait. Since I was dying of boredom I decided to sign on to my family's old computer. It was already 11PM so my house was quiet. Jason was out and my parents were in bed early.

I got the old computer fired up and was surprised when an instant message popped up on the screen. I recognized it as Eric's screen name and smiled.

**ENorthsox51: Sookie! You're awake!**

**Sook1e: Yeah goofus, I might be bored but I'm not old! Did you get the CD?!**

**ENorthsox51: Yea! You're going to be up for awhile right?**

**Sook1e: I think so… why?**

**ENorthsox51: No reason, just be awake… and in your bedroom in 30 mins.**

**Sook1e: Okay…. **

With that Eric signed off. That was weird. The computer was in the small office downstairs so I signed off too and then went up to my room. I was laying on my bed reading a book when I heard something hit my window. At first I figured it was a branch from the tree right outside the house. Then it happened again, and again. It was not windy out…

Now I was a little freaked out. Stupid me had been alone reading the 'New England Ghost Files' book. One of the stories was about a red headed hitch hiker ghost, that actually haunted a road in my town. I slowly got up and could feel my heart racing as my bare feet slowly crossed the floor to the window.

Shit! I could see a figure outside. What if it was that freaky hitchhiker? "Oh my god, oh my god…crap, crap!" Then the clouds must have shifted because the moonlight became brighter and I could make out Eric's face.

Now I noticed a black BMX bike laying on the ground next to him. I opened the window and stuck my head out. "Eric! What the heck are you doing?!" I whisper yelled down.

"Keeping my promise, we're supposed to listen to the CD together!" I smiled and told him to be quiet and wait there. My window was on the backside of the house, so Eric was in the backyard. Hopefully Jason would not see him if he came home soon. I checked the time and noticed it was already midnight. Jason's curfew.

I pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt then found my sneakers. I quietly crept to my brother's room and found him already passed out in his bed. My parents were still asleep so I slipped out of the house unnoticed. I went down the steps, quietly whispering hello to Alfred the pumpkin as I went.

I jogged around the back corner of my house to find Eric standing there in the moonlight. He must have gotten a haircut in the afternoon. His floppy blonde hair was well out of his eyes now and it looked milky white beneath the moon. He was wearing a black sweatshirt with a Vans logo on it.

"Are you nuts?" I walked up with a smile. I couldn't believe he showed up here like this. That meant he rode his bike down the road in the dark, which I would yell at him for later. It wasn't safe, even if the roads around here were dead. The hitchhiker ghost could've gotten him! Eric lived about ten minutes away though so the bike ride probably only took him twenty or so.

"I prefer insane, but yes. I couldn't let you being grounded get in the way of Green Day! We've been waiting all month for this." He smiled.

"I know, come on, follow me." I lead the way and Eric grabbed his bike and followed me. We ended up in the barn, sitting on hay bales in the loft. I dug out the old radio Tara and I used to keep up there. It was covered in dust but when I pressed the power button it worked.

"Awesome" Eric kneeled down and placed the CD in. "Have you listened to it yet?" I asked eagerly, hoping he had a good review for it.

"Nope I was waiting for you. So we'll see if it sucks together." He gave me that lopsided grin and pushed play. It was pitch black up here except for the one flashlight I had found in the barn supply room. For the first time ever in my life, all I could think about was how much I wanted to kiss him. I had never kissed a boy before.

Therefore I definitely was not going to be making any moves on him. I had no idea what to do or when. It seemed like a basic concept but once I thought about it, I figured I'd mess it up. Then I wondered if Eric had ever kissed anyone. Probably… most kids my age had by now.

The sounds of the excited audience in the background made their music even more exciting. As Billie Joe yelled out to the crowd in the middle of American Idiot I smiled up at Eric. "I wish we were there."

"Me too." He whispered and all of the sudden it felt like my heart was in my throat. Eric was just staring at me with those blue eyes of his. He wasn't grinning anymore, just watching me silently. I had no clue what to do so I finally broke his gaze and looked back at the radio.

We finished listening to the CD, giggling a few times as we tripped in the darkness to try and get to the ladder. I noticed all I kept thinking about was how much I wanted Eric to see me as more than his friend. I needed to call Tara tomorrow. I'd never had a real crush that I wanted to act on before. Maybe she would have some advice.

"Don't let your parents catch you sneaking back in." Eric said as we left the barn, peeking out to make sure all the lights were still off in my house. "I need you to come to Bill's dumb party with me. Superman can't travel without you Smalls."

If anyone else had called me that nickname I'd probably be annoyed. But coming from Eric it was like we had our own inside joke. "I know, I don't want to miss it. Bill can be a little annoying sometimes but usually his Halloween parties are awesome. The Comptons are the richest people in town. His Dad owns some construction company and I guess they make loads of money."

I did not like people for being rich. But I would admit that being rich made Bill's parties pretty freaking cool. They had a huge room in the house that he got to use for his Halloween party each year, with tons of food, drinks, and his older cousin Victor would DJ for them.

"Guess I better get home." Eric tucked his CD player safely into his sweatshirt again.

"Yeah, please be careful riding down the road. And don't do it again! It freaks me out that you could get hit or something." I hated to sound like my mother but it was true!

"Or because you're scared the Red Headed Phantom will get me?" Eric chuckled, I had told him about the hitchhiker story I had been reading.

"Whatever jerk, make fun of me for caring about your butt getting haunted." Then, surprisingly, Eric took a step closer and wrapped his arms around me.

I stood there frozen. I could feel his sides still shaking with quiet laughter before I finally responded to his hug. "Goodnight Sookie" His arms tightened around me for a second before he let go. I reluctantly dropped my arms to my side again.

"Wait! IM me when you get back so I know you're alive." Eric promised to message me and I waved to him as he rode his bike away. That boy was crazy, and I was crazy about him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**a/n: This chapter is getting posted a bit early as a gift for my delightful reader Evl666! Quite a bit of IM in this chapter, because personally, I think sometimes it's easier to talk with even people you're close to through text or IM about serious stuff. Especially at a young age like this. Also BILL's partayy!**

**Eric's POV**

The entire bike ride home I was not worried about ghosts or cars. Okay maybe a few times I looked over my shoulder to make sure some red headed creep wasn't there. When you were alone the story definitely got scarier, especially when it took place in my new town. But most of all my thoughts were consumed with Sookie. I liked her, I really liked her. It might have taken me awhile and some serious denial but I totally had a crush on her now.

I really started to notice it when she came to Boston with me. The second I noticed Andre creeping on her I wanted to scratch his eyes out. I'd never felt like that over a girl before. I'd thought girls were cute and even kissed two girls back in the city. But Sookie was different. We were friends first and now I was realizing how adorable she was.

I liked that she was shy with everyone else but seemed to really be herself with me. I liked holding her hand in the city, and I definitely enjoyed hugging her goodbye tonight. I noticed her hair smelled like honey.

When I did get home I rushed onto my mother's computer. She was asleep upstairs and since tonight was her only night off she was definitely passed out. I turned the computer on and lowered the sound. I didn't need my Mom hearing the little 'bing' sounds from the instant messenger.

The second it was on I signed into the AOL Messenger.

**Sook1e: You're alive! =)**

**ENorthsox51: I told you that ghost wouldn't get me. I'm too fast!**

**Sook1e: Pshh, I bet you got freaked a couple times!**

**ENorthsox51: Ok maybe like, twice. That's it tho.**

**Sook1e: Thanks for coming over tonight, that was really awesome. I mean it.**

**ENorthsox51: No prob, anything for my best friend right? Do you have to go to bed?**

**Sook1e: No goofus it's Saturday tomorrow, well… today I guess. It's 12:40AM.**

**ENorthsox51: Cool cuz I'm not tired**

**Sook1e: Same here. Nothing to do later today either since I'm grounded.**

**ENorthsox51: That's so lame that your rents grounded you. We could've been hanging out!**

**Sook1e: I know but at least the city was fun… once your Dad was gone.**

**ENorthsox51: Sorry about him. But yeah it was a blast besides him and Andre.**

**Sook1e: So… was your Dad always like this?**

**ENorthsox51: No I don't think so. I used to get along with him and he didn't used to be so mad… I think he blames me…**

**Sook1e: For what?**

**ENorthsox51: um, breaking up his marriage.**

**Sook1e: He's the one who cheated!**

**ENorthsox51: Yea but he never would have told my mom, except he was so worried I had already told her, he ended up telling her himself. After I caught him that day I ran out. By the time I got home him and my mom were fighting, he must have thought I'd run off to tell her at work or something. **

**Sook1e: wow, what a jerk. He can't blame you for his mistakes. Don't feel guilty for him Eric.**

**ENorthsox51: I guess, it's hard not to sometimes. I just miss things being normal.**

**Sook1e: But if you hadn't caught them your mom would still be stuck being married to a person who was cheating on her. Wouldn't it be like living a lie? Now you know who your Dad really is…even if it stinks.**

**ENorthsox51: Sometimes the lie seems better than reality**

**Sook1e: =(**

**ENorthsox51: Anyway, so did you hear Amelia and Pam are getting friendly?**

**Sook1e: Ugh yea! So weird! Pam has never been mean like Isabelle and Nan. But she seems so snobby.**

**ENorthsox51: I know! She might be the most plastic of them all with her perfect hair and outfits. **

Sookie and I continued chatting until about 3:30AM, which was considered insanely late to us fifteen year olds. I went to bed with a grin on my face and actually felt a bit better about opening up more about my Dad.

The following week went by fairly quickly. Nan seemed to have given up on digging her fake nails into me since I told her off. Although I did notice Victor, Bill's older cousin, was trying to befriend me. He was in Jason's grade and I asked Sookie if he knew her brother. She said they knew each other but weren't exactly pals. Whatever, I brushed it off and just said hi when he said hello in the hallway.

Bill's party arrived quickly and Sookie was no longer grounded. It was Friday night and my mom was dropping me off at Sookie's house before her shift at the restaurant started. The Stackhouses were going to drop me off after the party.

"Eric you look so cute!" My Mom gushed as I adjusted the loosened tie around my neck. I was wearing black slacks, with a tucked in white button-down, and a loose black tie. This way I could leave the top half of the dress shirt unbuttoned, revealing the blue t-shirt with a Superman emblem beneath. I even had on black dress shoes that my parents had bought me for a funeral last year. Depressing I know, but now they were coming in handy again.

I looked in the mirror in the car. "Mom are you sure this looks good?" She had insisted on parting my hair and slicking it back some. I felt like an old man, but she kept gushing over my 'cuteness' which I didn't like. The only girl I wanted thinking I was cute would be Sookie. Since now all I did was think about her. I adjusted the fake black framed glasses on the bridge of my nose. They felt weird since I never wore glasses.

"Mom can you please be cool and not talk about how cute I am for ten seconds?" I gave her a serious gaze and she nodded. I knew she would break the promise.

We got out of the car and I noticed Alfred and his pumpkin friend were both glowing with candlelight. Then the door squeaked open and Sookie came bounding down the steps with a big smile. She had on a brown cowgirl hat, with a pink plaid shirt, jeans and the cowgirl boots to match. Her hair was tied into low pigtails with pink ribbons in each one. Could she be any more adorable?

"Hey Sheriff" I noticed the little badge on her shirt, and the toy gun strapped to her hip.

"Oh my god, you look so cute!" Sookie blurted out and then her cheeks turned bright red. I don't think she meant to say it. I was grinning like a fool though. Now I was glad my mother made me go all out with this outfit.

"Okay kids stand together, get near the pumpkins too!" My mother and Mrs. Stackhouse both had their cameras ready. Mr. Stackhouse was rolling his eyes behind his wife and I was trying not to laugh too much.

We stepped between our two pumpkins in front of the porch steps. "Eric get closer! We can't even get the two of you in the shot!" Mrs. Stackhouse declared. Finally I decided to suck it up and use the moment to my advantage. I moved until my side was against Sookie's and threw my arm around her shoulders.

I smiled for real when I felt her small hand on my back. I definitely would need a copy of this picture. Eventually my Mom left after taking a million pictures. I really did love the woman, she worked her ass off to support us. I wanted to try and get a job soon so I could help in some way.

Bill lived in the north end of town which was a twenty minute drive from Sookie's. "Man for such a small town, it sure is big." I looked over at Sookie.

"Yeah, it's a lot of space but the houses are all so spread out it's still really rural. So technically we're a big small town." She smiled and I wondered if the lip gloss she had on would really taste like cherries. Sookie never put makeup on which I didn't mind. She was plenty pretty without it. But for tonight she had some kind of light sparkles on her cheeks and that cherry lip gloss. It was really making my mind wander.

We pulled up outside of Bill's house and already there were cars lined up in the driveway dropping kids off. Most of the people going were in our grade so they did not have their licenses. There were a few high schooler's cars parked on the grass though. Sookie and I hopped out of the car and waved goodbye. It was 7pm and the party ended at 11pm. I had four hours to enjoy with Sookie.

"C'mon Smalls" I smirked and offered her my arm, just like I saw old people do all the time. "Why thank you Mr. Kent" Sookie giggled and hooked her arm through mine.

Bill's house was huge. The party was inside since the ground was already covered in a light frost. The ceilings inside were high and the room we were led to was pretty big for a house around here. It looked like a formal living room but all of the furniture had been cleared out. The floors were all hardwood and I could see Victor in the corner with his DJ gear all setup. He waved at me and I waved back. The music was already blaring but no one dared to step onto the dance floor yet.

I could feel eyes on us and turned to see Bill glaring at us from the food table along one wall. Then I realized Sookie's arm was still looped over mine. Ha! I could not help the arrogant smirk that spread over my lips. Bill was such a suck up and he came across as fake as hell to me. So I didn't feel bad about making him jealous. If anything it felt a little too good.

"Sookie!" There was that girly scream and Sookie was pulled away from me and into Tara's hug.

"Hey Eggs, cool costumes" I said as he walked up behind his girlfriend. Eggs was dressed up as some kind of creepy doctor and Tara was the nurse. They both had a decent amount of blood splattered on them.

"This party should be pretty cool, Bill never lets us down." Eggs said as he looked around the large room. I wondered if anyone felt bad for using Bill. It seemed like the only reason anyone liked him was because he was rich. The only person I had seen be genuinely nice to him 100% of the time was Sookie. I think she was too polite to tell him he was annoying.

"Yeah man, so you guys dance yet?" I smirked. I knew full well no one had danced yet. We were all at that awkward stage where you no longer jumped up and down like a crazy toddler to music, but you weren't exactly comfortable bumping and grinding like the seniors did at dances. So that left us all on the outer edges of the dance floor. I had a plan though, as long as the right song came on...

"Hell no, we aren't gonna be the first!" Eggs and Tara both said at the same time.

Sookie giggled and I just shook my head. Then Bill walked up. Wonderful. "Hi Sookie, you look great. I love your costume"

Could I swat him away like a fly? He was such a pest. I know I had no public claim on Sookie but he always had to suck up to her like crazy. It made me want to puke.

Sookie looked awkward as always when complimented. "Um, thanks Bill. Your Dracula costume is cool." Her response was rather half-hearted.

"So who are you sucking the life out of tonight?" Besides everyone here... I piped in. I was always quite the sarcastic jerk around this kid. I just could not help it.

"It's just a costume Eric." Bill grumbled then turned his eyes back to Sookie. "Wanna dance?"

Now my stomach was churning, would she actually say yes to him? Just to be nice? I cringed inwardly and waited.

"Maybe later? No one else is out there, I'd feel weird with everyone watching me." Sookie was fiddling with the bow on one of her pigtails. She was obviously uncomfortable and probably felt bad turning him down. I however was quite pleased.

"What do you say we go get some food then? I'm starving." I motioned for Sookie to follow me and we left Bill with Tara and Eggs.

We got to the snack table and I poured some random fruit punch into two cups, handing one to her. "Thanks Eric, sometimes he can be a little..."

"Creepy, obsessed with you, annoying?" I began rattling off the many bad traits of Bill Compton. Sookie almost spit her fruit punch out from laughing. "One of those, yes."

"So are you keeping those glasses on all night Clark Kent?" I pushed them up the bridge of my nose again. "Of course, it completes my outfit, don't you think?"

"I do, I just never thought you would keep them on after we took a picture." Sookie smiled and looked back out to the dance floor. I noticed she liked them so I definitely was going to wear them all night even if they got annoying.

We ended up sitting at a small table with Tara, Eggs, Amelia, and even Pam oddly enough. She wasn't so bad once we all got talking. She was not half as bitchy as Nan or Isabelle. I think she just liked fashion and had other things in common with them, so that's why she stuck around them. The party had been going for an hour and all Victor had played were dance beats that no one was dancing to. There was only one group of girls dancing in a circle out there.

Finally a slow song came on. It was that super cheesy one by Savage Garden, the one about being someone's dream, their wish, their fantasy blah blah... I thought the tune was corny as hell. But second Eggs asked Tara to dance I could finally put my plan into play. I looked over at Sookie who was just sitting there looking a bit bored now.

"You want to dance?" I asked and could feel my palms getting sweaty. This was ridiculous, I tried to ignore the jittery feeling in my stomach.

"Sure" She smiled softly and I lead the way to the middle of the dance floor. I put my hands on her waist and she could only put her hands on my shoulders since I was taller than her. This was perfect, except my plan did not go any farther than this. For a few seconds my brain jumbled with what I should do next. Then Sookie stepped closer to rest her head on my shoulder, and I just forgot everything else as we swayed slowly to the music.

Eventually the song ended but I was not ready to let her go just yet. I looked down and found her staring back up at me with warm brown eyes. Without thinking about it I leaned down and just as our noses touched Victor yelled over the speakers that it was time for the costume contest. We both jumped slightly and stepped apart. Damn it! I looked over to the DJ booth and noticed Bill standing next to Victor looking way too smug. I was damn sure the costume contest would not have start at that second if it wasn't for Bill.

Tara and Eggs won with their creepy doctor outfits. But then Sookie was pulled away by a crying Tara not more than ten minutes after their win. I had no idea what happened but Eggs looked angry and walked off to another room. I just stood there for awhile until Victor came over.

"Hey Eric, how you liking the music?" He was taller than me so I had to look up. Then again he was a junior, so it wasn't a shock. "Good, where did you learn to do that?" I just made conversation for the hell of it.

"My best friend is into it to so we invested in the equipment together. We have more stuff in the other room that we ended up not needing, c'mon I'll show you." Victor just started leading the way and did not wait for my reply. I glanced around quickly and still saw no Sookie so I followed Victor. We walked down a hall and into what looked like a more casual living room.

"Where's the equipment?" I asked and turned around, only to get sucker punched in the face. I fell to the floor and when I rolled onto my back I noticed Stan hovering over me.

"What the hell?" I mumbled and tried to sit up. Stan leaned down and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. "You little jackass. You think you can treat my sister like crap?"

Crap, this was because of Nan?! Stan must have been the best friend Victor mentioned. Great... "She treats the rest of us like crap, so why not?" I spat back at him. I was a stubborn kid. I knew I would lose it was two against one and they were both juniors on the football team. I had no chance in hell being a scrawny 15 year old.

"She said you were a sarcastic little prick." Stan's knuckles slammed into my face again. This time I felt something crack and then warm liquid seeping out of my nose. I ran my hand beneath my nose and there was a bright smear of red on my fingers. Victor was just standing in the background laughing. What a jerk, I should have known he was being nice to me for a bad reason.

"Get the hell off of him!" I heard Sookie screaming then I heard Amelia's voice too.

"I already called Bill's parents downstairs so you better get out of here." Sookie demanded as she knelt down next to me. I had never seen her stand up to anyone like that before, usually she was so shy and timid. Stan and Victor took that as their cue to leave and walked off, yelling at me that this wasn't over.

"Eric, are you okay? Oh god you're bleeding..." Sookie looked like she had no idea what to do and all of her bravery seemed to seep away the second Victor and Stan left.

"Where are Bill's parents?" I asked as I sat up some.

"Um, I don't know. I just said that in hopes that they would leave you alone." Sookie smiled a little and shrugged her shoulders. "Pam told Amelia what Stan had planned the second she saw you walk off with Victor. I guess she thought they wouldn't go through with it, but once she saw you leave she found Amelia. Then Amelia found me."

"Thanks" I said to both of them since Amelia was still in the doorway looking like a deer caught in headlights. Amelia nodded and headed back to the main room. Sookie helped me up and the second I was on my feet I wrapped her up in the biggest bear hug ever.

"Thank you" I whispered into her ear. It meant a lot to me that she came in here and stood up to two guys who probably intimidated her like crazy.

We slowly walked back to the main room and this time Sookie was the one to reach out and squeeze my hand. I didn't let her go and intertwined our fingers. There was probably still some blood on my face and it had splattered onto my white shirt. Oh well...

When we walked past Nan's table she would not even look in our direction. She knew what she had done was wrong and just plaint spiteful. She couldn't handle someone not liking her, or at least not pretending to and cowering in her presence.

Sookie and I ended up outside sitting on the front steps. We called her parents to come pick us up early. Neither of us wanted to hang around after what happened. I also found out Tara had already gone home upset, Eggs had broken up with her. Somehow they got into some fight after the contest and he just dumped her. I thought he was a bit of a jerk and could have waited until they were home.

"Lets take a picture" Sookie looked at me like I was nuts. "Eric you just got your face bashed in, why would you want a picture?"

"Because I'm already starting to get a black eye, think how badass I'm looking. We need to document this." I pulled the disposable camera she had brought from her hands. I held the camera out and snapped a picture of myself. Then I dug into my pocket and found my glasses. One of the lenses was all cracked from when I got punched. I put them on anyway, then leaned closer to Sookie and took a picture of the both of us.

"That'll be a good shot. I'm quite the photographer." Sookie laughed at that. "Yeah right, you're the least artistic person I know. Let me take one, I'm sure it'll be better."

Sookie took the camera and held it out at arm's length and leaned in. The second she did I turned my face and kissed her on the cheek, just as the camera flashed. "You're right, that one probably will be better." I grinned, Sookie was blushing and speechless.

Of course her parents arrived then but I didn't mind. I was pretty sure Sookie liked me back now. We piled into her car and right away her mother was freaking out over my face. It was sore, my nose was throbbing a little, but it would heal. When we got back to Sookie's house she insisted on helping me clean up some and then made me sit on the couch, not moving, with an ice pack.

I could hear Sookie's muffled giggling when her mother left the room. "No laughing at the injured guy" I said, while trying to see the TV with the ice pack on my face.

"Sorry, it's funny though. I think she is freaking out more over this than when Jason broke his arm." That was actually nice to hear. Mrs. Stackhouse apparently really liked me. It was only another hour before my Mom came to get me. Sookie and I just watched television while I tried to not move my face too much.

She did tell me why Eggs and Tara broke up. I guess Eggs had it in his head that in order for their relationship to progress, it needed to involve clothing being removed. That was stupid and I told Sookie that. I would never do something like that to Sookie if she actually became my girlfriend someday. I cared too much about her to let her just slip away over something like that. I thought it proved Eggs didn't care enough about Tara if he was that impatient.

When my mother showd up I hugged Sookie goodnight instead of waving to her like I usually did. We both ignored our mother's stupid smiles and looks as I got into the car. On the way home I was quiet, but happy with how the night turned out. I might have gotten punched in the face, but I got Sookie to dance with me, and gave her a kiss… even if it was just on the cheek.


	9. Chapter 9

_a/n: thanks to my lovely reviewers and readers for this story. You guys are awesome, I'm so glad there seems to be positive feedback on this story. I was worried having them be so young might cause a lack of interest. Since most SVM stories have them at least in their twenties. _

Chapter 9

Sookie's POV

I went to bed that night and could barely sleep I was so giddy. Eric asked me to dance with him, and then on the steps he kissed me! I know that doesn't count as my first kiss but I don't care. I was so excited that Eric might see me as more than his best friend. Tonight proved that. Although I was pissed at Nan for sicking her brother on Eric. What the hell was wrong with that girl? She needed to grow up and realize not every boy was going to grovel at her feet. It made me even happier to know Eric was probably the first boy to completely snub her like that.

Could it be possible a boy actually would pick me over Nan? Each day I was with Eric it seemed more and more possible. Maybe being super girly and a cheerleader was not what every guy wanted. At least it did not seem to be what Eric wanted and he was the only boy's thoughts I cared about.

The following week at school was eerily calm. Eric had a black eye the entire time but Nan never approached us. Stan and Victor both kept their distance and in the back of my mind I was worried. I felt like they weren't done with us yet. Meanwhile I also spent much of the week trying to help Tara get over Eggs. She was doing pretty well and I invited her over after school a few days too. I had to admit I was missing spending my extra with Eric, or at least messaging him on the computer.

Once Friday rolled around I was excited. Eric and I were finally watching that Green Day concert on TV. We made plans at the beginning of the week so I made sure I told Tara I was busy. When the doorbell rang promptly at 6PM I yelled up the stairs. "I'll get it!" Then ran to the door.

Eric was standing there with arms full of snacks. His mom was beeping as she drove down the driveway to head to work. "I've got the goods!" He grinned and stepped inside.

"Geesh did you bring enough?" I laughed and helped him unload all of the bags. Eric had three kinds of chips, some salsa, cookies, and two bottles of soda.

"Enough for me, I'm not sure if there are any snacks for you." I smacked his arm and put the soda in the fridge for now. We grabbed the bag of cheetos and headed to my living room.

"Where are your parents?" Eric asked as he handed me the CD and I placed it in the DVD player.

"They'll be back soon. They went out to dinner with some friends of theirs." I explained and plopped down on the couch. Eric sat down next to me but I noticed this news seemed to cause a change in his demeanor. He almost seemed… nervous now. It was weird.

I pushed play on the remote and then the Green Day concert started on the TV. I was distracted enough now to not notice Eric kept glancing over at me.

"Oh man, that's so cool. Look how many people are all in that field just to see the band. Once we can drive we could totally go to one of these." I said, watching the mass amount of fans moving and waving theirs hands in time with the music.

"Yeah, definitely." I looked over at Eric and he quickly looked back to the TV. Okay…. Whatever. He was usually much more talkative than this.

A slow song came on and Billie Joe got rid of his guitar to sing 'Are We the Waiting'. All of the fans on TV quieted down and lifted lighters up, slowly swaying to the music. Then I felt Eric's hand on mine. For a second my heart leapt, and then my stomach did a nervous turn. I was excited but petrified at the same time. I wanted more with Eric but I had no idea what to do about it.

I turned my hand so our fingers were intertwined. Then I finally dared to look over at him. He was looking back at me and the glow of the TV seemed to make his eyes even more blue. We were sitting right next to each other, so it was not like there was a lot of distance to begin with. But I realized Eric was leaning closer to me.

My heart was pounding and I was so nervous part of me actually thought about getting up and making some excuse about needing more soda. I had never kissed anyone, what if I messed it up?

I didn't have time to worry anymore though. A couple seconds later Eric seemed to fully decided he was going to go for it. He quickly closed the gap between us and pressed his lips to mine.

It was strange to finally experience something you had thought about for so long. It felt how I expected it to, but at the same time a million times better… because it was with Eric and I really cared about him. His lips were warm and I could feel his breath on my skin. Our kiss only lasted a few seconds and we both pulled back.

I opened my eyes and Eric was still leaning close to me. I swear I could just drown in his eyes, but in the most wonderful way. "So…" He said quietly.

I anxiously waited, having no idea what might come out of his mouth.

"Sookie…. Will you go out with me?" Eric asked and I felt my heart pounding again.

"You mean, like, be your girlfriend?" I wanted to make sure I had this right, and he didn't mean something else.

"Yes" He answered quickly and it was then I realized he was probably just as nervous as me. Or he seemed to be and that made me feel a bit better.

"Yes, definitely. But only if you promise to still be my goofus best friend too." I smiled and Eric gave me that lopsided grin. "Of course Smalls, I'm not changing anytime soon."

After that Eric seemed to be back to his normal self. I was always going to remember that song though. The Green Day song I got my first kiss during. My parents showed up a little while later and when they popped in to say hello, we were still holding hands. They didn't say anything but I knew I'd be hearing about it later.

"I love this song!" Eric exclaimed as Basket Case came on and he stuffed more cheetos into his mouth. "Eric you're going to choke on those." He shoved like five of them into his mouth at once.

Eric shook his head and proceeded to chew them all and somehow swallow them. He was such a dork, but now he was _my_ dork.

When Eric gave me a kiss goodnight before he left, I could swear I heard the butterfly wings flapping in my stomach. I cam back inside from the porch and found my mother sitting in the kitchen with a grin on her face. "Anything you want to share?"

I could feel my face turning red. I really hated how I blushed over everything. It was so annoying. Half of the time I was not even that embarrassed but then I realized I was blushing a little, and turned bright red in seconds. It sucked. I needed to go tanning until my white skin stopped doing that.

"Um... Ericismyboyfriend." I said super fast and turned to head up the stairs. "Sookie! Get back over here, and explain that slowly." Did my Mom really have to do this? I could swear she was just trying to torture me. I took a deep breath and said it slower this time. "Eric is my boyfriend now." There, why was it so hard to tell her that? I knew if it was Tara I would be screaming into the phone with excitement. But when it was my mother... it was just different. Maybe in a few years it would be easier to talk about this with her. But right now, discussing my first boyfriend ever, not so much.

"Well that's not exactly a big surprise I guess." What? How was it not a surprise?! It was a shock to me when Eric suddenly made the first move tonight. Times like these you hated parents for no good reason, it just sucked that sometimes they really did know more about your life than you did. "I hope you understand this changes the rules a little. Of course Eric is welcome here whenever you want, but no going into rooms and closing doors."

I just nodded and tried not to think about what that meant too much. Eric and I had not been locking ourselves in rooms alone before, why would we start that now? I knew exactly why I guess, but I also knew I wouldn't be going there anytime soon with Eric. I was quite content knowing I would be able to hold his hand for god's sake. But I was so not discussing that with my mother.

"Ok mom... can I go to bed now?" I wanted to call Tara.

"Fine, go call Tara and scream on the phone. Just don't wake up your Dad." She smiled and I took off up the stairs. I jumped onto my bed and grabbed the phone on my nightstand. I dialed Tara's number and impatiently waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Thornton, is Tara home?" I wished Tara had picked up. There was no time to waste!

"Sure honey, one second." I heard shuffling in the background and finally Tara was on the line.

"What's up Sook?"

"Eric is my boyfriend!" I yelled into the receiver. Yep, probably woke Dad up... oh well!

"What?! When, how?! I need all of the details!" Tara was squealing with me over the phone as I proceeded to explain the entire night in detail. It was awesome that even though she recently broke up with Eggs, she could still be happy for me.

"Sookie that's awesome! I knew he liked you from day one!" Tara had mentioned it more than once when I was busy gushing about how cute and perfect Eric was. I always brushed it off because I did not want to get my hopes up.

After chatting with Tara for almost an hour I hung up and looked at the clock. The red numbers said it was midnight. I was not tired at all. I changed into pajamas and tried to open my sketchbook and draw for a bit. My mind kept wandering to Eric though. Finally I decided to creep downstairs and sneak onto the computer. Just as I got downstairs Jason came walking inside.

"Where have you been?" I asked as I stopped by the fridge for a can of coke. My parents would want to kill me for the caffeine this late. "Out, what are you doing up?"

"Going on the computer, can't sleep." I explained and started to head off to the office.

"You're not supposed to go on the computer this late. You know Mom and Dad don't like that." I turned to face my idiotic brother.

"They also don't like you being out so late. So if you don't run and tell, then I won't." I replied then turned on my heel. I knew my brother wouldn't rat me out now. He was acting a bit off which meant he was probably somewhere he shouldn't have been tonight. My best guess was he was sitting in the woods drinking beer with his friends. My parents would be so pissed if they found out Jason was drinking.

I turned on the computer and signed into AIM, hoping Eric would be online.

**ENorthsox51: Hey!**

**Sook1e: I was hoping you'd be online, I can't sleep.**

**ENorthsox51: Same here, I'm still eating Cheetos**

**Sook1e: You ate half the bag by yourself, that wasn't enough? ;)**

**ENorthsox51: I'm a growing boy Smalls, I need my nutrition**

**Sook1e: Yes, cuz Cheetohs provide that**

**ENorthsox51: So I have some crappy news...**

**Sook1e: What?**

**ENorthsox51: My parent's divorce is finalized**

**Sook1e: oh... I'm sorry Eric**

**ENorthsox51: That's not the worst of it, I guess the custody thing worked out in my Dad's favor. I have to go stay with him on the weekends.**

**Sook1e: ...really? All the time?**

**ENorthsox51: I think so. I told my mom I don't wanna go, but she said all this stuff about custody and I don't really get it. But it sounds like even if I don't want to go, I don't get to make the choice for myself. =(**

**Sook1e: That's so dumb! How can they not let you decide? You think you're Dad will really make you stick to it?**

**ENorthsox51: Yea, he's pretty determined to make sure I 'respect him' again... whatever that means.**

**Sook1e: Wow... this sucks.**

**ENorthsox51: I know, mom totally ruined my mood when we got home and she told me.**

**ENorthsox51: I was in a good mood too, for obvious reasons. =)**

**Sook1e: Me too! At least we can see each other during the week, and that's 5 days.**

**ENorthsox51: Yea, and Tuesday afternoons for the awesome Stackhouse dinners!**

**Sook1e: Uhoh, someone is coming downstairs, I g2g!**

**ENorthsox51: Night Smalls =)**

I had to sign off and thankfully it was just Jason in the kitchen. I did end up going to bed though. I did not want to risk getting in trouble, and not being able to see Eric during the week. Man... this new custody setup was going to suck.

_a/n: so they're finally dating! But there's still issues they'll have to deal with concerning his Dad and Nan!_


	10. Chapter 10

_a/n: Thanks to everyone sticking with me and consistently reviewing this story! I love you all and it means so much! It definitely helps me to write faster when I see those reviews! Now on with the show, lets see what happens next for our scrawny and lanky little Eric lol. _

Chapter 10

**Eric's POV**

I couldn't believe this. It had been two weeks since I finally kissed Sookie. We had not had the chance to spend the day together once. During the week we still rode the bus together to school and I saw her during the day, then Tuesday for dinner. But it felt like nothing changed. I thought once she was my girlfriend I would see much more of her. It was not working out that way.

I spent each weekend at my Dad's crappy apartment instead of home with Sookie. I had to deal with Selah who was flaky, and shallow. She really reminded me of an older version of Nan. She was also five years younger than my mother, no surprise there why my Dad liked her. I could not stand being in the house with the two of them being all sappy over each other. My father was supposed to love my mother, not her. So I ended up hanging out with Andre and Jamal again. I knew it was a bad idea but it was my last resort.

I did come home each night and talked to Sookie on the computer. So at least we talked over the weekend. It sucked though, I wanted to see her, not just rely on the internet.

It was Saturday night and I had just gotten back from dinner with my Dad and Selah. They always dragged me out to eat with them. "Jack what do you think of my new nails? I was thinking I might go back to the old color." Selah pondered in the front seat of the car. "Honey I think anything looks great on you."

He was never that nice to my Mom. I rolled my eyes and looked out the car window. Could I just puke on the both of them?

"Eric, we're going to be going to New York City in a few weeks. We'll be spending the weekend there hitting all the tourist spots. You can come, and even bring your friend Sookie."

"You mean my girlfriend?" I reminded him for the millionth time. Apparently because I was fifteen my relationship didn't count to him.

"Sure, so what do you say son?" Selah seemed to not care about my reply as she stared at her nails some more.

"Nope, I'm all set." I was not going to put Sookie through another day of hell with Jack Northman. My father would just ignore her and Selah would ask stupid questions, thinking Sookie cared about dumb things like nails and purses. Sookie might be fifteen but I knew she was already a hundred times smarter than Selah.

There was silence in the car for the rest of the ride home. I was used to it. The past couple weekends were quiet. I barely spoke to my Dad and when he asked me questions I gave him one word replies. When we walked into the apartment I had no idea he was going to blow up like he did.

We had just gotten into the kitchen. My Dad dropped his keys on the counter then turned to face me. "Eric, I don't know what the hell to do with you anymore!"

I just stood there. What was I supposed to say to that?

It might just make him angrier if I said something. I knew I definitely was not going to say anything he wanted to hear. It felt like my father just wanted a quick fix for all of this. "So stop making me come here." I finally said. I wasn't going to lie to him, that was how I felt.

"I'm making you come here because I'm your father, and you need your father in your life." He explained and Selah was just leaning against the counter. At least she was keeping her trap shut.

"Yeah, I do! I need my old Dad back. The one who actually cared about me and Mom! But you don't care about anyone but yourself anymore." I was pissed. I had been angry for months over this and it felt good to scream at him.

"How can you say that? If I didn't care I wouldn't be around at all Eric." That actually stung. He seriously thought he had the option of just leaving me? Ditching me and pretending I never existed?

"Being around doesn't mean you care. Being here is your job. Unless you think you can give up being a Dad just like you gave up being a husband." I stared back at him and now he seemed speechless. I had him cornered. He could not reason his way out of this.

"Eric...I didn't give up anything. Sometimes things just don't work out between adults." He said quietly.

I flipped out. "Stop talking to me like I'm five years old! Things don't just 'not work out' because you're older than me. They don't work because you treated Mom like crap and cheated on her with that dumb bitch!" I angrily pointed at Selah. It felt like I was going to explode, I was shaking I was so mad.

I definitely was not expecting what happened next. My Dad grabbed me by my neck and shoved me against the wall. How could he be so mad when all I was doing was telling the truth?

"You do not talk about Selah like that ever again." His grip tightened around my neck and for a second I panicked, I couldn't breathe. If he ever thought he had a chance of getting my forgiveness it was gone now. I knew I was in a bad situation but I was stubborn as hell too. My lack of fear was either stupidity or bravery.

"You just can't..." I had to wheeze in my next breath to finish my sentence. "...stand that I'm right."

Then as quickly as he grabbed me, he let go. I collapsed on the floor and rubbed my sore neck. I was sure my skin was red already. I looked up at my father and he just gave me this empty stare. If anything he finally looked a little shaken, like he realized what he had done was wrong. Then he just walked off to his bedroom without saying a word.

I glared at Selah from my spot on the floor. She seemed clueless and did not offer to help me up. I waited for her to follow my father into the bedroom before going to mine. One thing I knew was I refused to spend the night here. I signed onto the computer my dad had put in my room.

**ENorthsox51: Hey, meet me in the loft.**

**Sook1e: What? Eric aren't you in Boston?**

**ENorthsox51: Please Sookie, just be there in like an hour.**

I signed off then quickly packed up my backpack with my things and snuck out to the kitchen again. I found the phone book and wrote down the number of a cab service, stuffing the paper in my pocket. Then I located Selah's purse on the counter. Yes I was being a total punk right now but I didn't care.

I dug around in her purse and finally found her wallet. I opened it and grabbed all of the cash that was in it. Apparently Selah liked to carry a lot of money, I stuffed it into my pocket and slid out the door silently.

Just my luck it was pouring rain outside. I walked down to the train station and once again caught the train to head back home. This was becoming a habit with my father. I couldn't stay there though. He was a jackass and wouldn't admit he did anything wrong. He just wanted me to automatically forgive him so he could feel okay about himself.

The train ride was long and lonely. Once I got off the train I called a cab and used the rest of Selah's money to get to my destination. It was still dark out when the cabbie pulled over. I told him to not go down the driveway. Instead I got out and started walking down Sookie's driveway myself. I didn't want the car lights to give me away.

I heard thunder boom overhead then lightning cracked across the sky, lighting the yard up for a second. "Shit..." I started walking faster although I was already soaked to the bone. My clothes were drenched and my hair was sticking to my forehead. My sneakers were covered in mud from the gravel driveway the Stackhouses had.

I got to the barn and crept inside. It was pitch black and I had to feel around until my eyes adjusted some. I ended up near Jupiter's stall. "Hey buddy" I actually reached out to pet him. He wasn't so scary anymore. "Sookie here?" I rolled my eyes at myself. I was getting to be too much like Sookie, talking to the horse like he understood me.

I headed around to the ladder then climbed up into the loft. I didn't see her anywhere. Maybe she didn't think I was serious? I dropped my backpack on a hay bale.

"Eric?"

My head snapped to the right, where her quiet whisper came from. Sookie slowly stepped forward from the shadows, having been at the other end of the loft. I didn't say anything. I just walked over and wrapped my arms around her. She seemed to not care I was soaking wet and hugged me back.

A few minutes passed and we had not said a word. I could hear and feel each breath she took. Her body was warm and eased the aching in my chilled bones. "Are you okay?" She finally whispered and leaned back some.

"Yeah, I just had to get away." I pulled the sweatshirt hood off my head, and shook out my wet hair.

"Ewww, Eric!" She wasn't mad though. She was giggling and wiping the water droplets from her face. I thought she looked perfect in that moment. Sookie was everything I wanted and she gave me hope that not everyone in my life would turn out to be a shitty person like my father.

I reached over and wiped away the last of the water running down her cheek. Then I leaned down and kissed her. Yes I could do that now, not that I'm very good at it. Well... technically I don't know if I am, but Sookie's never complained. I had only kissed two other girls and they were some wimpy pecks on the lips when I was 14.

With Sookie it was different. It felt like I had sparklers going off in my chest. You know the bright and colorful ones you light up on 4th. Of July, and the crackling colors just make you smile no matter what. I decided I wanted to just keep kissing her. Her lips were soft beneath mine and she tasted minty like that gum she always bought. One of my hands moved up to the side of her face, my fingers tracing along her jaw. But then she pulled back.

"Eric... what happened?" I knew I would feel better after telling her. So I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to one of the hay bales to sit down. The second we sat down Sookie got up.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see" She wandered off to the other end of the loft an came back with a blanket. "I brought this out with me, I didn't know how long it'd take for you to show up and it's not exactly warm out."

"Good thinking, I'm freezing." It was not cold enough for snow or ice but it was still chilly. I pulled my sweatshirt off since it was soaked. My t-shirt was a bit drier and still protected my skin from the prickly hay. Sookie and I huddle up together under the blanket and eventually my teeth stopped chattering. We had the hay bale pushed against one wall so we could lean back.

"So..." I began slowly, trying to figure out how to explain. "I was at my Dad's and we came home from dinner with Selah." Sookie nodded along. "And then he said he didn't know what to do with me anymore. So I told him he could stop making me go there. I hate having to spend my weekends with them. Then he tried to make it sound like him just being around is something I should be grateful for, like he's being such a great Dad by letting me come over."

"I'm sorry Eric. Maybe he just doesn't know how to act since you caught him. I'm not saying it's right, just that he might be as confused as you are sometimes." I knew Sookie was on my side, so I didn't get mad at her for trying to explain my father's behavior. She was just trying to help.

"I dunno, but then I flipped out and called him out on cheating on my Mom, then called Selah a bitch. He got super pissed Sookie. He actually shoved me against the wall and had his hand around my neck for a few seconds." I whispered into the darkness and I could feel her stiffen beside me.

"What? He actually hurt you?" Sookie sounded shocked and angry.

"Not really, I don't have any bruises or anything. He just grabbed me for a few seconds." I didn't want to sound like some whine bag. My neck wasn't even bruised.

"So what, Eric he should never even touch you! Why didn't you call your Mom right away? We have to tell her so you don't have to go back there anymore. He can't toss you around and then think he can make you come back." Sookie was actually really mad. I had never seen her truly pissed off before except at her brother. Well actually, she seemed mad at Stan for hitting me. Was it bad that I liked how mad she got over people hurting me? Because it was definitely pretty awesome to know someone cared that much about you.

"I know I have to tell my mom. I will... I just wanted some peace and quiet from all of it. I wanted a few hours of not dealing with my parents, their divorce, or custody issues." I looked over at Sookie, who had her chin resting on my shoulder. "I just wanted to be a kid again."

Sookie wrapped her fingers around mine and snuggled into my side, pulling the blanket up more around us. "We can do that for awhile." She whispered and I smiled down at her. I relaxed for the first time since I left for my Dad's Friday night. My eyes drifted shut and at some point we both fell asleep.

_a/n: click that review button and share your thoughts with me!_


	11. Chapter 11

_a/n: Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm thinking this might wrap up to be about 15 chapters right now. But we'll see._

CHAPTER 11

**Sookie's POV**

"Sookie! Sookie! Sook!" My eyes flew open and I tried to get my bearings. Where was I? Who was yelling my name? "Sook! What the hell…. Where is this girl…" I heard Jason mumbling on the first floor of the barn. I tried to get up but there was an arm around my shoulders. Crap. I looked up slightly at Eric who was fast asleep. I pushed the blanket off of us and sat up.

My movement already had him waking up but I jostled him a bit more. "Eric! Eric wake up!" I tried to keep quiet so Jason would not hear us. I could tell by the dim light in the barn it was very early in the morning. Hopefully my parents had not been freaking out too long.

"What?" Eric looked like he was going to roll over and lay down.

"Eric! Get up, we fell asleep in the barn!" He finally seemed to realize where he was and just how bad that was. Nothing happened but my parents would not see it that way.

"Shit, okay well they won't be that mad right? Once I explain?" Eric stood up and started grabbing his things. He pulled his sweatshirt on and found his backpack.

"I don't know. They're going to be really mad though." I nervously moved to the ladder. I did not want to face the music. Eric reached out, grabbing my hand to stop me.

"I'm sorry ahead of time if I get you into a lot of trouble." He frowned.

"It's okay, you needed me." I tried to smile but it didn't quite reach my eyes. I was worried about the screaming about to start.

"Worst case scenario we get yelled at and grounded right? It's not the end of the world." Eric tried to reason and gave my hand one last squeeze before we headed down the ladder. I tried to think positive but when my sneakers hit the barn floor I heard Jason.

"What the hell Sook? Where have you been? Mom and Dad woke me up this morning to look for you—" Jason paused when he noticed Eric coming down the ladder behind me. "You gotta be kidding me! What do you think you're doing with my sister you little jackass!" The second Eric's feet hit the floor Jason grabbed him by the collar of his shirt then shoved him roughly against the wall.

"Jason get off of him! He just needed somewhere to stay!" I tried to pull Jason off of him but he shoved me back. I was no match for my brother. Neither was Eric. He was already as tall as Jason but nowhere near as muscular. Jason wasted lots of time working out for football season.

"You buy that crap Sook? I was 15 not too long ago, I know what's going through his head." I wanted to slap my brother. Not every boy was a jerk like him.

Eric finally pushed Jason back some and spoke up. "I didn't do anything. I wouldn't treat Sookie like that. I'm nothing like you, I actually treat girls with respect." He glared at my brother. I saw Eric's fingers curling into a fist. Was he crazy? They both looked like they were ready to start beating each other when my parents came running in. They must have heard the yelling.

"Sookie! Oh my god are you okay? Where were you?" My mother was hugging me and checking me for injuries.

"I'm fine Mom. Eric just needed somewhere to stay last night. I met him up in the loft and we fell asleep by accident." Now that she was done assessing my health she looked mad. Really mad. My father was inspecting Eric from head to toe. I was pretty sure he was seeing if all of his clothes were in place. I was sure all of them were crazy. Did they really think I would have sex in the barn with Eric? I blushed just saying the word out loud in front of anyone besides my girlfriends.

"Really? Eric aren't you supposed to be in Boston?" My mom started questioning while my father dragged Jason off to one side, so he could avoid him punching Eric.

"Yes but something happened last night so I had to get away. I didn't know who else to go to." Eric seemed uncomfortable talking to my mother about this. But he had to tell the truth. Otherwise it would seem like we were just up to no good, like plenty of teenagers were.

"You should have called your Mom for a ride if you didn't want to stay." Mom was not having any of this.

"I know but… I didn't want to talk to her about it yet." Eric was staring at the floor now. That's when I decided to jump in and save him from having to explain more.

"Mom, listen, Eric said his Dad was freaking out on him last night. He was yelling and he even grabbed him by his neck! He couldn't stay there after that." She had to listen to me and know I was not lying. Everyone knew I was a terrible liar.

My Mom seemed to believe me and her face softened some. She felt bad for Eric but at the same time she was still upset we both did not handle this better. "Eric I'm sorry about your Dad. But you should have called your Mom or even us. We would have picked you up. Taking the train alone isn't safe and we don't appreciate thinking our daughter was kidnapped either. Corbett found her empty bed this morning and we were all worried sick. Come on inside, we'll call your mother. I'm sure she's having a heart attack."

As we were led inside I peered over at Eric. We both knew we were in for some serious grounding. But at least my parents believed us. Jason finally shut up too. Once we were in the house we sat at the kitchen table in silence. My mother called Eric's mom and she was on her way. I could hear how worried she was over the phone since she was yelling and hysterical. Eric's father must have called last night. She probably did not think to call us since Eric was supposed to be in Boston.

After all was said and done I ended up grounded for two weeks and Eric was grounded for a month. His mother was really upset he went off alone for the second time in the city and didn't call her first when his father gave him trouble. But she also called Jack Northman up and screamed at him. As far as I knew Eric did not have to go there on the weekends anymore. He only went if he chose to. I think his Dad finally felt guilty enough to realize he needed to back off and change his ways.

Since I couldn't see Eric or Tara I spent a lot of time with Jupiter. It would be after Thanksgiving before I saw Eric outside of school again. It felt like eternity. I also was not allowed on the computer so I could not instant message him. It sucked.

Then one afternoon I walked out to get the mail after school. I had nothing else to do, so might as well. I crossed the street and opened the metal mailbox and pulled out the flyers, bills, and… a letter. I looked at the handwriting and smiled. Eric had gotten creative. He wrote me a letter since we could not use the computer. Did I say how amazing my boyfriend was yet?

I ran back to the house and tucked the envelope into my pocket. I dumped the rest of the mail on the counter and ran up to my room. Once I was sitting on my bed I tore open the white envelope. Inside there was a package of my favorite Orbit gum and a folded letter. I smiled and unfolded the paper.

_Hey Sookie,_

_Again I'm sooo sorry I got you grounded. But thanks for being there for me, it means a lot. I figured since you can't IM me that I would write you a letter. This feels kind of cool since no one really writes these anymore. It's also strange that you won't get this for another two days or so. Anyway make sure you chew that gum! I'm sure you'll bring it school and share it with your favorite person (that better be me!). _

_Hmmm… I saw Pam and Amelia today in the hall. They were looking like best friends. Do you know if they're hanging out a lot? Seems like Pam is drifting from the plastic group. Eggs finally admitted to me in math that he was a jerk to Tara. I just said yeah, you were. Because he really was and I had nothing else to say. _

_I miss hanging out with you Sookie. I can't wait until after Thanksgiving so I can see you outside of school. Maybe if it snows by then we can go sledding. Didn't you say you sled in a creepy old cemetery? I'm telling you this town is weird. There is a hitchhiker ghost and you people sled in cemeteries! Okay well I dunno what else to say in my letter. But I will write you one tomorrow!_

_Later Smalls!_

_Sincerely, your Goofus! =P_

I was giggling by the end and quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. Then I started scribbling out a reply.

_Eric,_

_I think this might be your coolest idea yet. Thanks for the gum! And stop apologizing for getting me in trouble! It was my choice and I wanted to be there for you! I hope you can read my handwriting since it's pretty crappy. By the time you get this I'll probably have two more of your letters, and have talked to you about it on the bus. Oh well!_

_I don't know about Pam and Ames. She did say they went to a movie last week. I guess they are becoming decent friends. Maybe it's good because now Pam will have a real friend. Nan was probably always fake and bitchy to her too. I'm glad Eggs realizes he was wrong. He really hurt Tara when he broke up with her. _

_Miss you too! Lots! And sledding at the cemetery is normal! It is the best hill in all of town! Plus there are no grave stones on the backside of the hill so you don't hit any of them going down. But look out for the stonewall! Last year I got so much speed I smashed into it. You'll have to borrow my ghost book, there are two more stories from our town in it! I didn't have gum for you… but I included something extra!_

_See you on the bus! –Smalls_

Once I finished writing I folded up the letter and put it, along with a photo from Halloween into the envelope. It was the one Eric took of us sitting outside Bill's house. We were both smiling despite Eric's black eye. I kept the one of him kissing me on the cheek with his cracked glasses on. I loved that one and it was sitting on my nightstand.

I quickly addressed the envelope, slapped a stamp on it, and put it in the mail. Mom never said no letters so I did not count this as breaking the rules or lying.

A few days later I had two more letters from Eric in my room and I had sent him one in reply each time. It was finally Friday and it was the end of my second week of being grounded. That meant two more weeks for Eric. I walked up to my locker and found Nan blocking the way. She had her top locker open was checking her hair in the tiny mirror she had stuck to the inside of the door.

"Excuse me Nan, I need to get my books." I was being polite when really I ought to spit in her face. She had treated Eric like crap. But I tried to live by the mantra 'two wrongs don't make a right'. If I smacked Nan it would not erase what she had done to Eric. I also did not need anymore drama with her.

"You can wait." She said without even looking at me.

I thought about just walking away but then I thought about how much of a bitch she was. She did not just tease me, she hurt Eric. She physically hurt him by running off to her brother and having Stan beat him up. I gathered up all the courage I had and held on tight to the anger I felt churning in my stomach.

"No I can't." I said through gritted teeth. I was sick of her crap. I wasn't taking it anymore. Plus Stan wasn't here for her to call on. It was just the two of us. No Pam or Isabelle either to laugh at the dumb remarks she made to me. She was all alone without her pack of plastic barbies.

Nan turned to face me and looked slightly surprised before putting on her bitch mask again. "And what are you going to do about it Tomboy? You probably don't even know what a mirror is by the way you dress."

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I stepped forward and got right in her face. "Nan get the hell out of my way! You're such a stuck up Barbie and I've never been mean to you, but you treat me like crap. I'm sick of it!" I reached out with and pushed her aside by her shoulder. Nan easily stumbled to the side in shock. I swear her jaw was on the floor.

In a rage I opened my locker and furiously started shoving books into my bag. "And you know what?" I guess my rant was not over. "I can't believe you did that to Eric. Just because one boy in this damn school doesn't flirt with you, you get to him beat up? Do you have zero self esteem?" I zipped my backpack and stood up. Nan was speechless.

"And if you ever think about hurting Eric again, don't forget I'm a tomboy. So I'd forget the bitch slap and just punch you in the face." I spit at her then stormed off down the hall. Once I was sitting in my next class I could not believe what I had just done. My heat was racing and I could barely keep still. It was like some adrenaline high from finally getting that off my chest. Part of me was nervous she would really try to do something to Eric, but I meant what I said. I would punch her plastic face.

When I made it to health in the afternoon I was dying to tell Eric. But Bill stole his seat next to me. I think Eric had heard about it already though because he gave me a thumbs up and kept glancing over during class. The bell needed to ring! The health teacher droned on and I tried to pay attention. Tara passed me a few notes about Eggs being her friend again. I hoped they avoided dating though. It seemed like a bad idea for now.

Finally! The bell rang and I jumped up. Then Bill stopped me. "Sookie! Wait up!"

I wanted to talk to Eric who was literally five feet away waiting for me at the door.

"Yeah Bill?" I had no reason to be mean to him. He was socially awkward but he was not a bad person.

"Um, I was wondering if you were busy tonight? That new Spiderman movie just came out. I was wondering if you wanted to go?" Bill was glaring at Eric whenever he thought I wasn't looking. Hadn't he heard I was going out with Eric? I thought it was obvious.

"I can't Bill. Sorry. I'm grounded and I'm going out with Eric anyway. I thought you knew…" I frowned slightly, honestly feeling sympathy for him.

"Oh… I didn't know you were more than friends…" He eyed Eric like he didn't believe it.

Then Eric had to go all 'typical man' on me and he walked over, threw his arm around my shoulders and smirked down at Bill. "We are. Sookie's _my_ girlfriend so why don't you stop asking her out?"

Bill did not seem to have a reply to that. So he just mumbled something like 'whatever' and left. I was little annoyed with Eric. I knew Bill could be a pest but he had never done anything mean. He was probably really nervous to ask me that and then Eric had to be a jerk about it.

"Why did you do that?" I asked as we walked out of the room and towards our lockers.

"Because I don't need him asking you out. You're my girlfriend, he can go ask out Tara. She's single." He was not getting the point.

"But you were kind of a jerk Eric. If he didn't know, that's not his fault." I know I was too nice for my own good.

"But he did know and he still did it. In math class I told Eggs I asked you out, like two days after it happened. That was weeks ago, and Bill was sitting right next to us and heard the entire conversation." Eric explained and was obviously annoyed with Bill.

I kneeled down at my locker and started tossing in books I didn't need to bring home. "Oh…. Sorry for assuming the worst then…. I didn't mean to take Bill's side."

Eric shrugged. "Whatever, you didn't know. If you had started screaming at me, then maybe I'd be mad. You just try to be nice to everyone Smalls, that's your problem." He smirked and then Nan came down the hall. The second she spotted me she turned away.

"What was that about?" Eric asked with a knowing grin, grabbing my hand as we walked down the hall to the bus.

"Oh man, I have a good story for you on the bus ride home."

I told Eric the entire story on the bus. But it was one of those conversations you wanted to talk about for hours. This was a huge moment in my life. Nan had been annoying me since kindergarten. When I got home I stormed into the house and raided the kitchen. The second I was my mother I asked if I could use the computer.

"Technically you're still grounded today."

"Please mom? It's been almost two weeks and I haven't done anything wrong since then. And I never get into trouble you know that." It was true, Jason was always the one stirring up trouble for my parents.

Thankfully she caved. "Alright but only because you're my favorite daughter."

"I'm you're only daughter!" I smiled and grabbed a can of soda, and a box of Cheez-Its. Then I headed to the small office and turned the computer on.

I signed onto the computer and cracked open the can of soda. The computer tended to be slow so I impatiently waited. Finally everything finished loading and my AIM sign-in window popped up. I logged in and hoped Eric was online. This would be a much better form of communication than letters. Although I would always have a soft spot for those handwritten letters he sent. I kept them all.

**ENorthsox51: You're on the computer?!**

**Sook1e: Finally!**

**ENorthsox51: Are you not grounded anymore?**

**Sook1e: Well technically I can't go anywhere until tomorrow, but I convinced my mom to let me go on the computer today at least.**

**ENorthsox51: Lucky! I still have 2 more weeks =(**

**ENorthsox51: At least we can IM now tho.**

**Sook1e: Yea, I might miss your letters though =p**

**ENorthsox51: I thought that was a pretty epic idea, I might have stolen it from that cheesy notebook movie tho**

**Sook1e: Doesn't that guy write like 365 letters?! You only wrote me 4!**

**ENorthsox51: That boy prolly didn't have AIM!**

**Sook1e: ok maybe not**

**ENorthsox51: So I talked to my mom about being ungrounded for one night**

**Sook1e: What for?**

**ENorthsoz51: Well... I wanted to ask you in person but obviously that isn't happening.**

**ENorthsox51: Do you want to go to homecoming? Idk if dances are your thing... but it seems like it could be fun.**

**Sook1e: I've never been to one, my middle school didn't have them. But yea I'd go with you! =)**

**ENorthsox51: Cool, I bugged my mom enough and she said I can go to just that. But I have to tack on an extra day to being grounded right after Thanksgiving. I'd say it's worth it.**

**Sook1e: Are you gonna wear your Clark Kent tie?!**

**ENorthsox51: ummmmmm, maaaybe.**

**Sook1e: With the glasses.**

**ENorthsox51: Then I'd just look nerdy. Maybe you like nerds then.**

**Sook1e: Nah you're plenty cute just the way you are.**

**ENorthsox51: Aw Smalls you're making me blush over here**

**Sook1e: shut up!**

**ENorthsox51: =P**

After another half hour of chatting about absolutely nothing Eric had to sign off and help his mom with something around the house. I was nervous but excited for the homecoming dance. Since we were both freshman we had never been. I probably would never have gone if it wasn't for Eric. I wasn't into dressing up for fun, if anything I kind of hated it. But I could suffer dress shopping with my mother so I could go to the dance with Eric. I'm sure he would look handsome in his shirt and tie. Although he probably had to go shopping with his mother too, I don't think Eric owned a tie except for the one he wore for Halloween.

The next week went by slowly. Eric didn't even get to come over for dinner until he was free from being grounded. So Tuesday nights were eerily quiet at my house.

Eric and I were chatting each day online after school now. It was much better than just talking at school or on the bus. Things were going very well for us. I'm sure the popular kids in our school would say we were moving at a snail's pace but it was what I wanted. I just did not know how other 15 year old girls were already sleeping with guys and not thinking twice about it. Of course I only knew of two girls who were definitely like that in my grade: Nan and Isabelle. But the rest of the girls and guys liked to act like they had sex even if they had never been kissed. It was so stupid.

Eric and I were ignoring everyone else and just doing our own thing. Luckily it seemed like he was on the same page as me. He didn't seem to find a need to rush into anything physical and we were the same friends we had been before. Sometimes I wondered if it was because of everything he saw with his jerk Dad, maybe that's why he wasn't like other boys and trying to rush things along. If I saw something like that I know I'd be freaked out. Then I'd associate sex with ruining my family. So that definitely wasn't the most pleasant thing.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Jason came into the barn. It was still early afternoon for a school day. Usually he was out with friends so this was strange. I was tacking up Jupiter to go for a ride on the trails.

"Sook? What are you doing?" Jason paused in the aisle and patted Jupiter on the neck. He looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Um, tacking up the horse, what does it look like?" Sometimes I wondered if he could possibly be that stupid.

"Oh okay..." He continued standing there just watching me it was so weird.

"I was wondering how well you knew Jessica Hamby?" Ah-ha, I knew there had to be a point to this. Jason didn't just hang around me for the fun of it.

"I barely know her. She's in my health class I think." That was one of those classes you could take any year, like art. So that's why a sophomore girl was there. Jess was a year younger than Jason and last I knew she was with Hoyt.

"I need your help." Jason ran his fingers through his hair and started pacing the barn aisle. He had never asked me for advice in his life. To him I was his nerdy sister who was two years younger than him.

"What?" I didn't know how I could be of help.

"I really like Jess, and she just broke up with Hoyt yesterday. I wanna ask her out, but I don't know what to do." Wow, Jason had to really like her if he was putting his pride aside like this. Jessica already rejected him for Hoyt once.

"Didn't she already say no? What makes you think she's going to change her mind now?" In my mind Jason had not changed lately, so why would Jess' opinion change?

"Well yeah, but... I was kind of a jerk to her. I was all cocky and thought for sure she'd pick me over Hoyt. So I didn't really try to be nice or anything..." He muttered.

"Oh, so you were your usual self then. No surprise there Jay." I hoisted the saddle up onto the horse's back and started strapping on the girth.

"Hey!"

"You know it's true." I snapped back before he could argue.

"Fine" He huffed. "That's why I need your help. Jess is more like you, she's not into drama and being popular. She's smart and she definitely isn't impressed by me being on the football team." He seemed to be really stumped by that fact. Usually the star of the football team thing worked for him. I was glad a girl finally had him all twisted up like this.

"So you want my advice on how to get her interested?" I finished with the saddle and moved onto Jupiter's bridle.

"Obviously" I almost wanted to laugh and ride off. He acted like a jerk to me half the time so why not?

"Okay... well..." I started walking Jupiter out of the barn so I could get on. "Be nice to her, like really nice. Basically do the opposite of what you usually do. Maybe you should try being her friend first and really talking to her instead of just hitting on her with your sleazy comments."

Jason was staring up at me a little confused. I was already in the saddle and ready to go off on my trail ride. He still seemed to be trying to process everything. "Okay… but what do I talk about? She doesn't like football."

Gosh what a surprise there. "I dunno Jay, anything. Good luck." With that I kicked Jupiter up into a trot and headed of towards the tree line. Jason was left standing in the driveway to process all of that. I loved my brother but I did not have the patience to sit there and explain step by step, how to be nice to a girl. I would have told him to ask Eric but they weren't on the best of terms since the incident in the barn.

Eric never liked Jason and that made him practically hate him. Jason had not really cared about Eric before, now he didn't like Eric either. So those two having a chat was not going to happen soon. I spent most of my trail ride day dreaming about what homecoming would be like, and praying Nan did not cause more trouble.

_a/n: type up a review will ya? =P And don't worry everyone will be ungrounded soon enough!_


	12. Chapter 12

_a/n: So I have finished writing this story and it's ended at 13 chapters, a bit earlier than I expected. But I did not want to drag things out when I really felt the story should be coming to an end, no matter how much I love these two! I will be posting the final chapter tomorrow most likely, so you guys will be getting a quick update. Now, let's get to homecoming! _

CHAPTER 12

**Eric's POV**

"Eric! Come over here !" I heard my Mom yelling down the hall for me. I ignored her for two more minutes and finished brushing my teeth and sloshing around some mouthwash. Tonight was the homecoming dance and the first time I got hangout with Sookie after school in ages. I had already put some gel into my hair and parted it. Normally I let my blonde hair just do its own thing. It was pin straight so usually that meant it just fell onto my forehead. But I figured the dance called for something a bit more formal and neat looking. I carefully analyzed my hair in the mirror one more time to make sure it was parted, but slicked back slightly. I didn't want to look like a total nerd like Bill, who just parted his hair to one side but in a way that looked like your mother did it for your pre-school photo.

"Eric! Get your skinny butt in here!" I rolled my eyes and headed to my mother's room. She had the ironing board out and had just finished ironing the black button down shirt I was wearing. Yes my mother ironed for me, what 15 year old boy irons himself when his Mom might to do it for him?

"Thanks Mom" I grabbed the shirt and pulled it on. While I was buttoning that up my awesome mom was ironing my black slack. She had tried to convince me to no go the all black route. However I thought it looked badass with the red tie I had picked out. Sookie had said her dress was red so I hoped it was the same shade.

A few minutes later I was heading down the stairs completely dressed, with the tie hanging around my shoulders. My mother was in the kitchen throwing together a sandwich I could eat real quick before we left. "Mom do you know how the heck to tie this thing?" I grumbled with frustration. This tie was a freaking pain.

"Um, let me see." She grabbed the tie and put it around her own neck to try and figure out how to tie it. Thankfully she figured it out somewhat. It looked a bit messy but it would work. Before it hadn't matter for my Clark Kent costume, but now the tie thing kind of was important to the outfit. I didn't say anything though I knew she was doing her best. This was something my lame ass father shold be doing for me.

"Thanks" I adjusted it around my neck and then quickly ate my sandwich.

"Eric, I know you're thinking the same thing as me. That your Dad should be here. I thought you should know he called and asked me to take extra pictures so I could send some to him." My mother said sympathetically.

"I'm glad he's not here. He would just make things awkward." I stared at the crumbs on my plate.

"And I think that's why he chose not to ask if he could stop by tonight. He knew you wouldn't want him to. But I just want you to know that even though he's made a lot of mistakes… he is thinking of you." I had no idea how my mother could defend him at all. I knew he hurt her more than me, he was an ass to her. But yet she stilled tried to make sure I knew he cared even if it was in the smallest ways.

"Thanks…" I didn't know what else to say to her. I knew she was trying to look out for me. I guess it mattered to me that my father wanted to see a picture of tonight. It meant he did care in some way. But I also was stubborn and had a hard time admitting to myself that I wanted him to care. Plus I still wasn't over the fact that he had grabbed me like that. Neither was my mom and that's why she wouldn't even let me go to my father's if I asked right now. I heard her yelling at him over the phone one night about how he was going to lose any right at all to see me if he kept it up. Right now not seeing him at all wouldn't bother me.

"Can we get going?" I did not want to ruin my mood thinking about him too much.

"Sure, come on lets get in the car." We headed out the door and hopped into my mother's Ford Taurus. I was looking forward to seeing Sookie and I knew she would look pretty in her dress.

As we sat in the car driving down the dark country roads my mother decided to give me a lecture. It was one I did not think I needed. "Eric, can I ask you a favor?"

"Um okay…" I really had no idea what she was getting at.

"Please don't get into any trouble tonight?" My mom was really asking me that?

"Whenever I get into trouble it's not my fault." Okay that was vague and no true. But she knew what I meant!

"I know those older boys came after you unprovoked that night. I get that Eric. But if anyone tries to stir up trouble just say nothing and walk away, alright? I know you're a good kid. I just don't want the Stackhouses to end up thinking you're just getting their daughter involved in trouble." She explained and I tried to not get mad at her. I was not causing the majority of the drama. It was Nan and her stupid brother Stan. Sure I made some smart remarks towards both of them but that did not give them permission to beat me up at Bill's party.

But I guess my mom was asking me to keep my mouth shut when it came to my witty one liners. I supposed I could try and do that. I really did not want Sookie's parents to dislike me. So far I thought they liked me… unless that had changed since the loft incident. I had not seen them since we left her house that morning and I got grounded. What if they hated me now?

"Ok" I replied quietly and stared out the window the rest of the ride. Now I was really worried they thought less of me for asking Sookie to meet me in the barn that night.

When we pulled up to the small farmhouse I was nervous. My palms were sweaty and it wasn't even over seeing Sookie. It was her damn parents. I really liked them, and it would definitely bother me if they hated my guts.

We got out of the car and I awkwardly carried the single rose I had picked out at the shop for Sookie. I knocked on the door and heard footsteps coming closer.

"Hey man, come on in." Jason answered the door and was oddly somewhat polite. It was probably because my mom was with me. I couldn't wait to get my license so I could pick up Sookie on my own and not need a parent with me at all times. It kind of sucked. We headed inside and Sookie's mom was in the kitchen baking something. She smiled brightly at me.

"Hi Eric, its good to see you. Are you excited for the dance?" She seemed just as nice as before.

"Yeah, definitely." I wasn't sure of what else to say. I wondered where Sookie was. Then her father came strolling in from the living room. Crap.

"Eric" He just nodded. You know that weird nod thing men do when they don't want to hug like chicks for a greeting.

"Hi" Wow that was lame. Could I think of nothing better to say to him? I couldn't help it, I was most worried he hated me now.

"Come here" He motioned for me to follow him and I gulped. Shit. I looked at my mom for a second then followed him into the other room. could be scary when he wanted to be. He was not that tall, just average, but stocky. Plus I knew he really cared about his family and that meant he might ream me out for the loft thing. He didn't want his daughter in any sort of trouble.

Then to my surprise he smiled and started undoing the tie around my neck. "We can't trust the ladies to tie these." He chuckled and then started retying it for me.

"Just watch how I tie it, this will make it much neater looking." I looked down and watched him effortlessly make the neatest tie knot I had ever seen. It didn't look like a knot but a work of art. The man was good.

"That's a Windsor knot, the fancy kind, to impress the ladies." He winked and patted me on the shoulder. I smiled and was glad he still liked me.

"Well I only have to impress one, so hopefully it works." I said rather bashfully. It was easier to say things like that in a smart ass way in front of my friends. But I knew would see right through my sarcastic tone, and know I meant it.

"Guess you'll find out" He said and gestured towards the stairs. I turned around and Sookie was coming downstairs quickly. I noticed her feet were still bare and she was carrying some silver strappy heels in her hand. Her hair was down and curly, usually she wore it straight. She had on light makeup and it looked like that cherry lip gloss she used sometimes. Her dress was almost the exact shade of crimson red as my tie. She looked beautiful, perfect, way better than the 'pretty' I had in my mind before.

"Hey Eric!" She smiled and walked right over, wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me a quick hug. I barely got a chance to respond since I needed to pick my jaw up off the floor. I could hear her father chuckling behind me, probably at my reaction.

"Hi" I finally managed to get out when she stepped back. Her dad made his way back to the kitchen then. I was happy to have a minute alone with her.

"Oh!" I quickly turned to the coffee table and picked up the rose I had brought in when the whole tie lesson went down.

"This is for you, you look beautiful." I don't think I had ever told a girl that before, but it was true. Sookie gave me a small smile but was blushing furiously. Her cheeks almost matched her dress.

"Thanks, you look really nice too." She took the rose then sat down on the couch to put her heels on. I was so glad guys did not have to wear those things. It looked like a torture device.

"Only a one more week of being grounded after this." I sat down next to her.

"I know, thank god. It's been so boring without you. I can only go to the movies with Tara so many times. We're running out of things to go see." Sookie finished with her crazy torture shoes and stood up. She grabbed a tiny silver bag and put it over her shoulder. "Ready?"

I nodded and followed her out to the kitchen. Once there we were quickly ushered to their dining room, to stand in front of the fireplace for photos. I think Sookie and I were blinded by the time they were done. A million flashes later and all of the parents seemed content. Just as we were about to leave Jason came running down the stairs in a shirt and tie as well.

"He's coming too?" I whispered over to Sookie.

"I guess he decided to last minute?" She apparently had no idea he was going either.

"Come on guys, I can give you a ride to the dance." Jason offered as he rushed by getting his things together. Now that was strange. Sookie shrugged and we followed him out the door after saying goodbye.

Once we were settled in Jason's old Honda Sookie got to questioning him. "Jason, I thought you weren't going?"

"I changed my mind." He turned left to head towards the high school.

"So why are you bringing us?" Sookie was reading my mind with the questions.

"Because I owe you one. Jess is finally giving me a chance I think." Jason said while keeping focused on the road. I wondered what Sookie had done for him. She gave me a look that said she would explain later. I hoped Jason would keep on this good streak and be a better brother. From what I saw he could do much better at being nice to his sister.

We arrived at the dance in style. I know a crappy old Honda is no limo but this was homecoming, only prom called for a limo. Sookie and I stood out among our peers simply because an upper classman was dropping us off at the door. It was lame how simple things like that got your classmates impressed. Jason drove off to park his car and I figured we wouldn't be seeing much of him until the end of the night.

"Ready?" I grabbed Sookie's hand and we headed into the school. Not seeing her for three weeks made me realize how much I missed getting that extra time with her. So I was going to make the most of tonght, since I still had one more week of grounding after this.

We walked into the gym and it was covered in green and gold decorations. Those were the school colors. There was a big banner for the football team, saying who we were playing for homecoming game. My old school in the city never made a big deal over the sports teams. But here in hick town it was a huge deal and the homecoming dance was pretty much in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving game. The lights were low and there was a DJ at the front end of the gym. He had crazy colored lights that would spin and make designs on the dance floor. It was a pretty good setup for a small town high school.

I spotted Bill immediately and hoped he kept his distance from Sookie. I could totally see him asking her to dance and trying to weasel his way into her heart. It would never happen but just the thought annoyed me. I also kept an eye out for Nan, her brother, and Victor. I did not need any trouble tonight.

"Oh there's Tara!" Sookie pointed across the gym where they had a couple tables setup for kids to sit and take a break. Tara was standing next to one of them chatting with some senior. Sookie pulled me over to them and introduced me.

"Eric this is Tara's cousin Lafayette. He's a senior here. Laf, this is my boyfriend Eric." I reached out to shake his hand and he yanked me over the second his hand was around mine.

"Mmm, Sook you got good taste girl." He eyed me like I was a piece of meat. This was freaking me out. I pulled my hand back and quickly stepped back over to Sookie. What the hell was he doing? I could tell he was gay but I didn't need him being so forward. It was definitely overwhelming. Sookie was giggling at my side.

"Lafayette I told you to be nice when you met him!" She reached over and smacked him and the guy just laughed.

"Sorry Sook, you know I can't resist freaking him out a bit." Lafayette chuckled. After that the conversation was pretty normal. I realized Lafayette really was a good guy, he just liked to pull pranks and joke around a lot. I actually really liked him. He was short for a senior, being just about my height. I was only 5'7" and I hated it. However I knew I hadn't hit my growth spurt yet. Some of the freshmen started this school year looking like men with some barely there facial hair already. I unfortunately was stuck in the lower half that still looked 100% kid. I really, really wanted that growth spurt.

We ended up getting on the dance floor. Lafayette dragged us all out there. The guy was a social butterfly and seemed to be friends with people from every grade. He brought us into this mob of dancing kids. It was easier to dance here than at Bill's party where barely anyone was on the floor and you knew people were watching. Here Sookie and I could get lost in the crowd and we both seemed to appreciate that.

I did realize that dancing to fast songs was not the nightmare I thought it would be. Sookie was a pretty good dancer and if I just followed her movements I could stay with the beat of the song. Plus this meant I got to have my hands on her hips all night with her body pressed against mine. I definitely had not realized how freaking awesome dancing was. Then Green Day's 'Holiday' came blaring over the speakers with some dance beat mixed with it.

Sookie freaked out. "Yeah!" She turned around to face me then with the biggest smile lighting up her face. "I can't believe they're playing this!"

"I know! It's awesome!" I yelled over the music into her ear. For that song everyone ended up jumping up and down the entire time with their hands in the air. Sookie and I were singing along like lunatics and laughing. Once that song ended we were both out of breath and sweaty. But we were also having too much fun to leave the floor yet as another one of Sookie's favorite songs came on.

Sookie turned back to me with a smirk on her face. She stood there for a second or two as if debating something in her mind. I was about to ask when she grabbed my tie, pulled me over, and kissed me. I think I was seeing stars at that point. I have no idea what got into her in those few seconds but that was just about the best thing ever. I hoped Jason was not nearby because after that instead of her having her back to me while we danced, we decided facing each other was much better. Sookie had her arms around my neck and we spent half the song making out instead of really dancing.

The song ended and before it turned into another dance beat I could hear Lafayette in the background. "Yeah Sook! Go for it girl!"

Sookie pulled back then and even thought the lighting was dim I could tell by her expression she was blushing. I think she got a little lost in the dancing mob and forgot about everyone else for awhile. I know I did. "Come on" I grabbed her hand and led the way over to the drink table.

I grabbed two waters and handed one off to Sookie.

"Did I tell you how cute you look in your tie?" I looked down as her fingers moved down the red tie against my chest.

"You might have, but you can always kiss me to remind me." I grinned as Sookie smiled slightly then pulled her hand back. Damn I wish I had more reasons to wear ties! I didn't know a stupid tie could make so many good things happen for me.

"I'm so glad you invited me to this Eric. I'm really having a good time." She finished up her water and looked back at the dance floor. I put my cup down on the table and stepped up behind her, wrapping my arms around her.

"Well I wouldn't have come to this if I didn't have a pretty awesome girlfriend to bring with me." It finally felt like we were a couple. The second we had decided to be more than friends I had been taken away to my father's on weekends. Then we both got grounded. This was literally the first boyfriend/girlfriend thing we had been able to do together. I was glad she was having a good time and that everything seemed to naturally fall into place. Part of me had been worried things might be awkward. Not everyone could make the shift from friends to dating so easily.

"You see Jason out there with that girl?" On the edge of the gym we could talk in somewhat normal voices.

"Yeah, who is that?" She had red hair and I thought she was a sophomore.

"Jessica, the reason we got a ride here tonight. Jason asked for my advice on how to get her interested in him. I think for once he really likes a girl, like he might want to be her boyfriend." Sookie explained and even she seemed stunned. I know I was.

"Wow, what did you tell him?" I wondered if I would find out some secret female dating knowledge here.

"Basically I described how you treat me. But I didn't say it like that, because then he would've been too proud to listen to me. That would mean he was admitting you knew more about how to treat a girl than he did." Sookie giggled.

I don't think she even realized the value of what she just said. At least it meant a lot to me, to know there wasn't anything Sookie would want to change about me, if she was giving her brother advice based off my behavior.

We were just standing there in the same position, slowly swaying back and forth to the slow song now playing. We had yet to rejoin everyone on the dance floor. I was just enjoying being with Sookie and appreciating it before I was grounded again.

"Could I steal a dance?" I had been lost in our little world and did not even notice Bill walk up. Really? I wanted to punch him in the nose. I was standing here with my arms around Sookie, and he thinks he can ask for a dance? It wasn't like he was asking in a friendly way like Eggs or Lafayette would.

"No Bill, you can't." Sookie snapped at him. I was shocked but also smirking over her shoulder at Bill. Ha! Maybe now he would get the point that my girlfriend was not interested in him and it wasn't okay to keep hitting on her.

"Oh, well maybe later? Just as friends?" Bill was dumb enough to still look hopeful. If I was nice enough I would pity him. He really was not trying to manipulate and scheme his way into Sookie's affections. He was just truly socially awkward with an intense crush on a girl. But this was not just any girl, it was my girl. I sure as hell was not sharing with him.

"I said no Bill. I'm sorry but I'm not interested in you as anything more than a classmate. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but Eric's my boyfriend and I'm not interested in anyone else." She said and I could tell she felt bad but was sticking to her word. Bill looked like someone had drowned his puppy and just walked away sullenly.

"Sorry about him… I'm just the only girl who was ever nice to him since grade school. I feel bad, but I guess he had to get the point at some time." Sookie frowned and I didn't want her to feel guilty. It wasn't her fault Bill couldn't take normal social cues. Any other guy would know to back off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad he knows you're mine now. I don't share with anyone." I grinned and Sookie started pulling my back to the dance floor, by my tie. I had to admit that was pretty hot. I wanted to wear ties everyday so Sookie could take charge more often.

"Okay caveman Eric. You're such a goofus you know that?" She laughed and we started dancing in the mob again. Tara waved from where she was dancing with Amelia and Pam.

"I know!" I yelled over the music. I don't think she realized I was dead serious about her being mine and not sharing. Sookie was my first girlfriend so I had no idea if my possessive feelings towards her were normal. For now it was just how I felt and I left it at that.

_a/n: Next chapter will be the last for this story, hope everyone has enjoyed it!_


	13. Chapter 13

_a/n: this is it! hope you all enjoyed the ride, thanks for sticking with me!_

CHAPTER 13

**Sookie's POV**

I was so happy Eric and I went to homecoming. It was a blast! I did lose one of my silver heels because I took them off to dance, but I didn't care. Jason even gave us a ride home instead of sneaking out to get drunk in the woods like usual with his friends. I wondered if that was something Jess would not like, it was the only reason for him to not go. At this point I was rooting for Jason and Jessica. She seemed like a good girl who could have a positive effect on my ignorant brother.

The rest of Eric's grounding went by fairly quickly. We continued to chat after school on the computer and always rode the bus together. One morning on the bus Eric explained that his mother had a talk with his Dad and now he would be going to counseling sessions for his temper. I thought that was really good. The unfortunate part was Eric might get roped into a few counseling sessions for the entire family. He didn't want to talk about his personal issues with some stranger. I totally understood that but I also hoped maybe it would help him. I knew he had issues with his father that needed to be resolved and part of him wanted things to be good between them again. He was just too proud to admit that.

Thanksgiving passed with little excitement. It was the usual family get together for me. I went to my Grandmother's which was ten minutes down the road and ate lunch with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I enjoyed it every year and was lucky to have quite a few cousins right around my age. I talked to Eric on the phone that night and felt bad his Thanksgiving sucked. He was used to all of his family being together. He wasn't ready to see his Dad so he spent it with his mother and her two sisters. I guess neither of them had kids so he was pretty bored the entire time. Times like that I wish I had a cell phone so I could have texted him or something.

Finally is was Eric's first day of freedom. I was bouncing with excitement as I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. It had snowed the night before, about five inches, definitely enough to sled on. Eric was on his way over right now and would be spending the day while his mother was at work.

"What are you excited about?" Jason asked as he poured cereal into a bowl. He was half asleep and still wearing the basketball shorts he slept in. I was already dressed.

"Eric's coming over and we're going sledding. He's finally not grounded anymore." I smiled and went to the fridge.

"Oh, cool. He kinda deserved it though." I rolled my eyes at my brother.

"C'mon Jay, you know nothing happened and Eric just needed help. He's not like you." I said rather bitterly then sat down to eat some toast.

"I guess he's alright…" Jason mumbled and kept eating. I smiled and just finished my breakfast. That was the closest thing I would get to him approving of Eric and I knew that. Now I just needed to get Eric to not hate Jason so much.

Eric arrived at my house looking the most adorable I have ever seen. He had on snow boots, ski pants, a big black winter coat, gloves, and one of those goofy hats with the pom-pom thing on the top. I was sure his mother bought it and forced him to wear it. He looked cute though, all bundled up like a little Michelin man.

"Shut up" He glared at me as he stepped inside.

"I didn't say anything!" I giggled and let him inside. I tried to not laugh so much and managed to tone it down to a smile.

"I did not pick this hat. I swear to god." He stomped inside and leaned against the counter. Jason had gone upstairs already to probably be lazy and watch movies in his room.

"I think it's cute." I smiled and kissed him.

Eric's mood seemed to slightly improve then. "I still think the hat sucks."

A half hour later we were waving goodbye to my Dad who had dropped us off at the cemetery. There was only one other group of three kids there already sledding. They looked to be maybe a year younger than us. I recognized one girl from school but did not know the other two people.

"So you're sure there are no dead people buried on this side of the hill?" Eric asked as we awkwardly walked through the snow, snow tubes in hand, to the top of the hill.

"Yes Eric, I am sure. All the head stones stop right at the top of the hill!" I pointed up with my free hand. There were all old headstones from the 1700s up there and one of them was a doctor. My friends and I used to read them once we got tired from sledding.

"Okay as long as I'm not going to get put in hell for sledding over the dead." He said with a serious face and I was laughing at him again.

"Would you cut that out? " He seemed a tad frustrated.

I shook my head. "Nope, can't take you seriously in the hat. Sorry!" Then I ran up the hill with Eric chasing me. Well it was more like we jogged really slow since the snow and layers of clothing dragged us down. It was like when you were in a dream and putting so much effort into running but barely moving. When I did reach the top of the hill I collapsed in the snow completely out of breath.

Then I got the wind knocked out of me as Eric slammed me into the ground. Apparently tackling me full force was okay when in snow suits. I had snow on my face and down my jacket already. Great. Eric was not moving and just smiling like an idiot. "You're such a jerk." I narrowed my eyes at him.

Eric shrugged then grabbed the clump of snow off my face and proceeded to eat it. Out here you did not have to worry about the snow being dirty unless it was yellow. So every kid ate snow when they were sledding. "I know, but you still love me."

"For some reason I do." I rolled my eyes at him. Wait. Shit. Did I just say I loved him? Eric seemed to realize what he had just said as well and was silent. If I thought about it I did love him as my friend but now that he was my boyfriend was I in love with him? At this point I could not definitely say that. I had no idea what love felt like. But I did care about Eric a lot and I was not about to get freaked out by our little mess of words a few seconds ago. I think both of us knew we were not at the 'I love you' stage but we definitely cared about each other a lot.

I guess Eric was not that freaked out either. It was one of the best things about us. Where other young couples freaked and caused drama over the tiniest things, Eric and I tended to remain rational and not go off assuming things and end up in a stupid fight. Instead of getting up in a rush and being awkward he leaned down and kissed me. I can honestly say lying in the snow, starting to freeze my butt off, was the best kiss Eric ever gave me. He had his dorky hat on and it was just…. perfect.

We both forgot that there were other people sledding. Since we were busy making out in the snow. I could feel cold tip of Eric's nose against my skin, then the sharp contrast of his tongue running along my bottom lip. My lips easily parted beneath his and just as things were really getting good I heard giggling to our left. I'm sure the kids were having a blast laughing and whispering instead of sledding. Eric did not seem to notice or he just did not care because he kept kissing me. I think his plan was to ignore them as long as possible. But eventually I pushed on his chest slightly and he pulled back.

The next thing I knew he had balled up some snow and hurled it at the group of giggling middle schoolers. They quickly scattered and went back to sledding. "Now where were we?" Eric wiggled his eyebrows and smirked.

"Oh no mister, we're about to sled. That's what we are doing." I said and miraculously managed to push him off of me. He reluctantly got up and grabbed his snow tube.

Eric and I spent the rest of the day sledding. We went down that hill a hundred times at least and even made a jump out of snow at one point. Eric went flying over it and got some serious air, I was shocked we did not pop the snow tubes we had. Once the other kids left we had the hill to ourselves and made about three more jumps. It got to the point that you could not go down the hill without falling on your ass. But it was a blast. We ended the day at my house half dressed in our snow clothes still, drinking hot chocolate at the kitchen table. I had no idea what the future held for me but I knew one thing for sure, Eric was going to be a part of it.

**a/n: the end! I hope everyone enjoyed this story. I decided to end things here because this story was meant to be about two kids, and that young love you experience, where the physical things really just don't matter quite as much yet. I think this pair has been explored fully to that point. If I went any further they would have started to lose that 'kid' aspect about them and that's not what this story was meant to be. **

**I have had a few readers mention a sequel and I am definitely considering it. I have really grown to love these two kids, so it could be fun to see them in a more mature setting. Please let me know your thoughts in a review. Thanks for reading! **


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